Book 3: Reconnection
by Sullivanright
Summary: (The finale to Book 2: Revelations) Though their options may be limited and their odds are against them in this war the group are still in this fight and ready to see it to the very end. Join them in this epic finale that will decide the fate of not only the entire world but also the future of everyone. (I do not own the Avatar the last airbender series just the ocs and fic)
1. Chapter 1: The Sunrise

It is here, the first chapter of the final book. Let's make it a good one. For now enjoy

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Chapter 1: The Sunrise

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Fuzzines, Hazzines, Headaches. These are all the feelings that Aang is experiencing at this moment. His eyes open slowly as he sees blurriness. He straightens himself right as his chest and back starts to hurt. He looks down on the ground as the headaches and blurs starts to fade away as he can think more clearly. He shakes his head as he holds his side. "What happened?" Aang asks himself.

He lifts his head up as his face is completely surprised as he clearly around him. He is in a metal room that is dimly lit; there are fire barrels and explosives in one corner and weapon in the other. However what really makes him shocked above all else is that he sees a banner hanging on the wall with the fire nation insignia on it. "Oh no" He says as he quickly shuffles out of the bed.

He grabs his staff as he silently makes his way to the door of the room. He turns the valve on it as the door unlocks. He peers his head out to see if there are any soldiers. As he sees that the hall is clear he steps out as he walks through the hall while using his staff to support his weight. He tries to be silent but the grunting from his pain and sounds his staff is making causes this to be difficult.

As he comes to the end of the hall he sees a left and right hall as he presses on. He is about to turn left when. "Did you hear something?" Aang hears some say as he looks over the corner and sees two soldiers, one big and one short as Aang quickly retreats back. His back is against the wall. He looks serious as he lifts up his staff. He comes out as he a gust of wind that's not strong but still enough to hit them as he limp runs away.

"He's awake." The big soldier says as they both chase Aang. "Stop! Wait!" The soldier yells. Aang uses his left arm to support him as he tries to get away from them. Every step he takes is filled with pain. He finally sees some stairs leading to the exit as he runs to them. As he reaches the stairs and he gets to the top his ankle gets caught as this causes him to trip.

As he falls his staff flies out of his hand and slides on the deck. He sees his staff slide towards two soldiers and he is surprised to see what is happening. "Momo?" Aang says confused as he sees that one of the soldiers is petting Momo. The soldier stops as they both look at Aang and Momo runs over to Aang as he flies on Momo's shoulder and starts licking him.

Aang stands there shocked at what's happening. "Aang!" A soldier yells as he runs to the other soldiers. Three cloaked figures look over to Aang and smile. They take off they're cloaks as their faces are revealed as Katara, Toph and Mizu. "Twinkle toes that's gotta be you." Toph says as they run over to him. When the small and the big soldier comes in they all stand together looking at Aang. The big soldier is pipsqueak while the other is The Duke. The two ordinary soldiers is Bato and a middle aged man with a warriors wolf tail like Sokka's. There are also two masked soldiers who stand next to them.

Aang looks at them confused. "Are you sure? I feel like I'm dreaming." He says rubbing his eyes. Katara suddenly hugs him catching him by surprise. "You're not dreaming. You're finally awake." She says. A fire soldier comes up to him wearing a mask as he hugs Aang. "Welcome back to the land of the living buddy." He says as he lets go and looks at Aang. Aang recognises the voice as he looks at him curiously. "Zian?" He says.

Then something happens that catches them off guard. Aang starts to groan as he begins to lose balance. Toph notices this "Oh no somebody catch him, he's gonna…" Too late. Aang falls to the floor as Katara luckily catches him as his eyes closes. They stand there looking down at their unconscious friend.

* * *

 **Later**

* * *

"Zian! Would you stop that?!" Mizu shouts at Zian who is busy lightly slapping Aang on his cheek. "Wakey wakey Aang, come one wake up. You had enough sleep." He says while smiling. He then starts to violently shake him. "Wake up! You can sleep when you're old!" He says. This causes the others to panic. "Stop! You're gonna hurt him!" Katara shouts. Aang's eyes start to slowly open up as he groans.

Zian smiles under the mask. "Finally our friend has awoken. Praise be, he's still breathing." Zian says overdramatically. Katara rolls her eyes as she pushes him aside as she sits in front of him. All of them decide to give the two of them some alone time as they get back to what they were doing.

* * *

 **The next morning**

* * *

Everyone gathers around as they sit and have some breakfast as Sokka explains to Aang what happened during his long sleep as he and Zian takes off their masks. "After what happened in Ba Sing Se we had to get you to safety." He says as Mizu grins. "Well yeah and the rest of us." She says looking at Zian. Aang looks at Zian a little worried. "Aren't you upset that you won't get to accomplish your fathers dream?" He asks. Zian just smiles as he shrugs. "Eh, not really I mean my father did want that but not at the cost of my own life." He says sounding relaxed.

Sokka continues. "We flew back to chameleon bay where we found my father and the other water tribe men." He says as Mizu smiles. "Yep and after spending some time with him I can see where Sokka gets his humour from." She says giggling as Zian and Hakoda chuckles. Aang looks around and sees that someone or two someone's is not with them. "Where's the Earth King?" Aang asks Zian.

"Oh my uncle decided that he wanted to travel the world in disguise. So he kind of set off alone, and by kind of alone he took Bosco with him. I'm going to miss does two." He says sighing. "But what are you going to do? If they want to travel, let them." He says as Sokka nods. "Soon the whole bay was overrun by fire nation ships. Rather than fight them all we captured a single ship and made it our disguise." Sokka says. Mizu smiles. "Don't worry about the crew, we just knocked them out and left them on the bay." Mizu says as she glares at Sokka. "Zian and I made very sure of that." She says as Sokka looks at her a bit scared. Zian smiles. "And let me say that these clothing that fire nation army wear are sweeeeeeeet. They feel so comfortable. I can't believe I've never tried this on. It's like wearing a fluffy cloud. I'm really sorry that I hated your people Mizu." He says looking at Mizu who just smiles as she waves it off. "Ah don't worry, it's not the first time someone hated my nation." She says as she and Zian both chuckle.

Sokka looks at her hoping she won't hurt him as he takes out a map of the Earth Kingdom as shows it to Aang. "Since then we've been travelling west. We crossed through the serpents pass a few days ago. We've seen a few fire nation ships but none have bothered us." He says. Zian grins. "I'm surprised that we haven't run into old snakey along the way." He says.

Aang looks at them all wondering. "So what now?" He asks. Hakoda (The wolf's warrior tail guy who is also Sokka and Katara's father) looks at Aang. "We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan." He says. "It's Sokka's invasion plan." Katara says sounding hostile. Hakoda looks at her. "Yes, it Sokka's plan." He says sounding sorry. Zian eyes looks at the situation. "oooo…awkward." He says jokingly as Katara glares at him as Zian holds his hands up in defence.

Hakoda looks back at Aang. "We won't be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth King armies." He says. Zian nods at this. "Yep that ship has sunk…hopefully this one won't." He says looking all around at the ship. "Yes that is true but the Solar Eclipse will still leave the fire nation vulnerable." Hakoda says. Sokka looks at Aang. "So we're planning a smaller invasion. Just a small rag tag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke." He says gesturing to the two. "Good to see you again Aang." Pipsqueak says while The Duke sits on his shoulder eating some food.

"Don't forget that we also have another advantage. Zian's transformation." Mizu says. Aang looks at her confused. "Are you saying Zian is able to transform at will?" He asks her. Zian nods. "Actually no. I still can't do that for some reason. At this point I can only transform if I'm angry, which isn't really going to work what with me not being so angry at the fire nation anymore, or if the full moon shows up. However Tui told me…" He says as Sokka looks at Aang.

"I'm starting to think he's losing it." Sokka says jokingly. Zian squints his eyes at him. "Watch it." He warns him as he looks back at Aang. "Anyway as I was saying. Tui told me that on the day I will be able to transform on the day of the Solar Eclipse seeing as how the moon will block the sun, kind of like a full moon. However he also says that when the sun is visible again I'll be forced to change back, but during that time I'll be able to cause some serious damage to the place." He says sounding excited.

"Aren't you afraid that the others will be scared of you?" Aang asks. Mizu shakes her head. "Don't worry about that. Zian transformed on a night when the moon was full while you were busy sleeping. Our friends and allies were scared of him and attacked him when they didn't know it was him. But after some time we convinced them that he's on our side and they got use to him and also started to like him." She says. Zian nods. "Yep and I have to say. It's going to be awesome when we bust open the front gates of the fire nation capital with the small numbers we have against an entire army. Oh man I'm so pumped!" He says filled with excitement.

Sokka smiles. "Yes but the best part is that Zian and the Eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage." He says as he leans closer to Aang and whispers. "We have a secret. You." He says. "Me?" Aang says not sure what he means by that. "Yep the whole world thinks you're dead. Isn't that great?!" Sokka asks.

Aang on the other hand just looks at them stunned at this news. He looks over the side of the ship looking at the water as he turns back to them filled with shock. "The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news? That's terrible!" He says. Sokka walks over to him. "No it's great; it means the fire nation won't be hunting us anymore. And even better they won't be expecting you on the day of Black Sun." He says as Mizu agrees. "Yep they'll never expect him to show up. I bet it will throw them of guard or even completely paralyze them." She says sounding enthusiastic about this.

Aang looks at them very worried. "No no no no. you have no idea. This is so messed up." He says as Zian just smiles. "Well not really. It could be worse." He says as he looks over to his left and sees a fire nation ship heading towards them. He starts to look happy as he jumps a little while clapping his hands excitingly. "Ooo we have guests. I'll go get snacks." He says as he runs to the hold. "Zian!" Mizu shouts at him as he stops and looks at her. "Fine." He says as he walks back to them.

Aang looks at the ship with determined. "I'll handle this." He says as he opens his glider. "The Avatar is back." He adds as he suddenly clutches his ribs as he groans in pain. Zian crosses his arms. "Looks like the Avatar has some stomach problems." He says mockingly. Aang glares at him as he places the glider over his back as he looks like he is going to take off even though it hurts while he is doing it. "Aang wait! They don't know that we're not fire nation." Katara says stopping him. And if they do find out, we can always use Mizu as a fake hostage." He says as Mizu scowls at him. "Hey! There is no way I'm going to be used as a hostage." She says angrily. Zian looks at her as he holds his hands up in defence. "Ok ok we'll, or more like I'll, drop that plan." He says.

Aang looks at them as he sighs and closes his glider as he gives in. "Everyone, just stay calm. Bato and I will take care of this." Hakoda says as he and Bato places the fire nation helmets on their heads. Zian looks at them eagerly. "Can I also handle this?" He asks them. They look at him and shake their heads. Zian looks at them disappointed. "Awww." He says as he and the others walk over to their hiding places while he grumbles. Pipsqueak and The Duke cover Appa and everything that would look suspicious as they also hide.

"I hate not being able to do anything." Aang says bitterly as Zian grins. "Well there are always bad days." He says jokingly. When the two are parallel to one another they both stop as the other ships places a metal ramp between them as a fire nation general with a scowled on his face and with two soldiers behind him, with one on each side, walks across the plank and over to Bato and Hakoda who stands there.

Bato and Hakoda bow to the general. "Commander, why are you off course? All western fleet ships are supposed to be moving to Ba Sing Se to support the occupation." The general asks. "Actually we're from the…eastern fleet. We have orders to deliver some cargo." He says hoping the general would buy it. "Ah, eastern fleet." He says thinking as he looks at them. "Well it's nice of Admiral Chan to let us know that he was sending one of his ships our way." He says sarcastically.

"I'm sure Admiral Chan meant no disrespect sir." Bato says playing the part. "I mean how hard is it to write a message and send a hawk our way?" The General asks. "Next time we'll send two hawks to make sure you get the message." Hakoda assures him. The three of them bow respectfully to one another before Bato and Hakoda turn around and walk away.

As the walk one of the soldiers comes close to the General while listens from his hiding place. "Sir, Admiral Chan has been on leave for two months on Ember Island." The soldier says. The General is surprised by this. "What? Why doesn't anyone ever tell me anything?" The General asks as he becomes suspicious now. "Somethings not right, they should've known that." He says. "Uh-oh." Zian says as he feels that things could go south as he keeps listening. "I think this is a captured ship." The General says as he and his guards walk back to their ship.

Zian puts his mask on as he comes out of the hiding place. His friends look at him wide eyed. "Zian! What are you doing?!" Mizu whisper to him as he walks over to the general. "Just stay quiet until we're safely across. Then we'll sink this ship." The General says. Zian runs over to the General. "General!" Zian yells out to the man. The General hears him and he and his guards turn to him. "What is it soldier?" He asks showing no signs of suspicions. Zian stops in front of the General as he looks at him. "I just got a message from Admiral Chan." He says.

This makes the General look at him surprised. "And what is that message soldier?" He asks curiously. Zian grins under his mask. "Well, in the message…" He then extends his left foot back, lowers his upper body a bit down as his shoulder is facing the front, shifts his body a bit back and proceeds thrusts himself forward. This causes him to ram into the General as he rams into him hard enough that he is send flying to his guards who he slams into which in turn causes them to fly back unto their own ship.

As they land on the steel deck they look at Zian. "He says to get off our ship!" Zian yells as he looks at the others. "Time to go!" Zia shouts. Everyone comes out as they prepare to escape. Katara moves to the side of the side of the ship where the ramp is as she bends the water in the lake and forms a wave between the ships. She then thrusts her hand forward as this makes the wave slam into the enemy ship and pushes them away from their ship.

As both ships are far from enough from each other their ship starts to move as they get away. As the enemy ship recovers from the attack it then positions itself and gives chase to the ship. They pour oil on rocks that are on trebuchets and light them on fire. They then throw them at the ship as they try to hit them.

The Zian and the rest try to keep their balance from the boulders that are hitting them. Zian and Toph stand side by side to each other. "Give us some earth!" Zian yells to Pipsqueak and The Duke. They place slabs of earth in front of them as he and Toph bend the slabs and throw them at the ship. Zian and Toph hit on each as Zian cheers. "Whoo! Ten points!" He yells.

Suddenly the ship shakes as Zian almost loses his balance. "What was that?!" Zian asks looking at Katara. "The ship has a hole in it. I'll fix it." She says. Zian gives her a thumbs up as he gets back to shooting slabs. "I'm gonna try and give us some cover." Katara says. She then bends the water as she creates steam all around them as it creates a giant fog as their views blur. As they think they are safe they suddenly see a giant fireball flying in the fog and coming down towards them. They take cover as the boulder destroys there ammunition. "Well that helped us a treat." Mizu says sarcastically as she shoots fire balls at the enemy ship.

Another boulder is shot at them as it hits the engine. Mizu quickly runs over to the fire as she extinguishes it. "How are we doing?" Toph asks Sokka. "Things couldn't get much worse." Sokka says. Suddenly behind him on the side of the ship something suddenly shoots out the water. It makes a loud screeching noise as they all look. "Oh no, not you!" Zian exclaims with irritation as they see that it is the giant serpent that lives in serpents pass.

Sokka turns around and looks at the snake with a fearful look. "The universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?!" Sokka shouts. "You make it too easy!" Toph yells. The serpent is about to strike when it unexpectedly stops upon seeing Zian. The serpent looks at him for a while as it remembers something. It then looks at the ship chasing them as the fire nation ship fires a boulder at the snake.

The serpent screeches as it dives into the water and towards the enemy ship. As it is close to the ship it comes out as it entangle itself around it as it stops it in its place as Zian and the others manage to get away. Sokka looks at the site with a smile. "Thank you the universe." He says with delight while Zian looks at the snake confused. "What just happened?" Zian asks himself.

They dock their ship near the harbour of some town as the group walk over to Aang's room. Zian opens the door as they see him lying on his bed. "Hey Aang. We're going into town to find some dinner." Toph says. Aang's stomach starts to growl as he holds it and looks at them. "Well I am pretty hungry. Maybe dinner is a good idea." He says. Sokka walks over to him as he holds out a bandanna. "Here tie this around your head; it will cover your arrow." He says. Aang looks at him angrily. "I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly." He says as he lays back on the bed.

"Aww come on, it's good to fashion rise every now and then. I mean just look at these cloaks we're wearing. Much better than showing your arrow openly." Zian says as he is suddenly nudged in the rib by Mizu. "Not helping." She whispers to him. "Aang come on be practical." Sokka advises him. Aang just lies there and ignores him.

Katara looks at the others. "You guys go ahead without us, we'll catch up." She says. "Ok" Zian says. They head out of the room and Sokka closes the door. After he closes it he looks at the others. "You think he'll be alright?" Sokka asks him. "I don't know. I just hope twinkle toes will see some sense." Toph says. "I hope he'll be fine." Mizu says. Zian agrees. "Yep, he just needs to see the bright side of this whole thing and it will be all fine. But enough talking let's go eat. I can't wait to test out some awesome food." He says as they all agree and they start walking to the ship exit.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

* * *

After some time has passed and they all have their stomachs full. Zian is sitting on the railing of the deck as he looks up at the stars while he smiles and inhales the sweet air. "Seems like a peaceful night, isn't it?" Zian hears someone say as he turns around and sees that it is only Mizu. He smiles at her as he looks back up. "Yep very peaceful." He says. He hears her footsteps approaching him. "May I sit down next to you?" She asks. "Sure" He says. She smiles as she sits down and looks up at the stars. "You seem to have become more relaxed and happy since Ba Sing Se." She says. He nods. "Maybe it's because I find out that who really killed my parents." He says.

Mizu smiles turns into a frown. "That's actually what I want to talk to you about." She says as Zian looks at her curiously. "I don't really want to talk about it." He says. "Please tell me." She says. He looks at her. "You're going to nag me until I tell you aren't you?" He asks. She shakes her head. "No but sooner or later you're going to tell me." She says. Zian sighs at this. "Alright so what do you want to talk about the whole thing?" He asks her.

"Well it's about your anger towards Long Feng. Why were you so angry at him?" She says. Zian sighs at this. "You already know the story. He killed my parents and I wanted revenge." He says. Mizu looks at him not really believing him. "I know that, but what I saw down there in the Dai Lee Headquarters the way you got all savage and violent." She says. Zian is now curios. "What are you trying to say?" He asks her.

"I'm saying that I don't think you just got enraged at him and turned all ruthless because it was all for revenge. I think it was something more." She says. This makes Zian really focus. "You really want to know why?" He asks her. She nods at this. Zian sighs again. "It's…it's because Long Feng was…my godfather." He says. Mizu's eyes widen at this as she is filled with shock. "Zian…I-I'm sorry I asked." She says regretting her choice as she stands up and starts to walk away.

"Hey!" She suddenly hears him say as she turns around. She sees that he is smiling at her as she is confused at this. "Don't be sorry. In fact I should be thanking you for the second time." He says. She looks at him even more confused. "Why?" She asks him. He jumps off the railing as he walks to her. "Well one for now getting that painful feeling off of my chest." He says. "And the other one?" She asks. He smiles. "Well for saving me from becoming a cold blooded killer." He says.

She feels the guilt that she had before lift up as she looks up at him. For the first time since they met she sees the colour of his eyes as they are a darkish brown. Zian looks in her eyes and is surprised to see that… "Huh, never thought you had two different eye colours." He says as this makes Mizu feel embarrassed as she looks away. He smiles. "He don't worry, I like it." He says as she blushes and looks back at him. They stare into each other's eyes as they are unable to break away.

"Zian, Mizu!" They both hear someone call out as this breaks the moment and they shake their heads. They look over to their left as they see Katara running to them looking worried. Zian is curios at this. "What is it Katara?" He asks her. She looks at him and Mizu. "Aang's gone." She says. Mizu's eyes widen upon hearing that but Zian just sighs. "I sort of had a feeling he would do that." He says. He looks at her. "Can you get me his turned clothes?" He asks. She nods as she goes to get it. Zian looks at Mizu and smiles. "You know you're look cute when you blush he says as he follows Katara. Mizu looks at him annoyed. "I am not." She says as she follows them.

* * *

 **On a small volcanic rock**

* * *

Aang is lying on the shores of an old burnt volcano island as the sun rises over this fire death island. He is unconscious until he is woken by the touch of saliva that is on his face by Momo. He gets up groaning as he is surprised to see his friends running up to him. "You're okay." Katara says as she is relieved to see that he is not hurt as she kneels down and hugs him. He is happy to see them but is then curios on something.

"How'd you find me?" He asks. Mizu smiles as she points to Zian. "Zian sniffed you out." She says. Zian nods as he pulls out the scorched and tattered clothes that he had worn. "Yep and I have to say that a bath every now and then would help a lot." He says jokingly as he gags at the clothes. Aang looks a little worried. "I have so much to do." He says as Katara smiles. "I know, but you'll have our help." She says.

"You didn't think you could get out of training just by coming to the fire nation, did you?" Toph says. Aang smiles at this as he realises something. "What about the invasion?" He asks them. "We'll join up with my dad and the invasion force on the day of the eclipse." Sokka assures him. Zian smiles at this as he looks at the water and sees something floating on it as it washes to the shore. "Hey what's…" He says as he picks up the thing.

His eyes widen when he realises that it is Aang's glider that he is holding which has been broken and smashed. Zian regrettably hands it to Aang. "Here's your glider. Sorry." He says. Aang takes it as he stands up. "That's ok." He says. He looks at all of them. "If someone saw it, it would give away my identity." He says realizing his error that he has neglected. "It's better now that no one knows that I am alive." He says as he turns to the island. He jumps up in the air and lands close enough to where the lava is flowing down.

Looking down at the spot with sadness he slams the glider down as it stands upright. He looks at the glider which was once a part of his old life burning from the heat as he jumps back to the others and they take off on Appa.

* * *

I've had a little problem with writing this and it took longer than it should have but be sure that this won't always happen and I plan to give it my best in writing this last book. But as always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	2. Chapter 2: The Headband

This might be the longest chapter I have ever written so far. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 2: The Headband

* * *

I thought I heard theeeee old man say. Leave her Zanzo oh leave her. Tomorrow ye will get your pay and it's time for us to leave her. Weeeee swear by our oath fooooor want of more. Leave her Zanzo oh leave her…" Zian sings whilst he and the rest of the group are riding on Appa in fire nation territory as they are "discreetly" flying over the sky with Appa being disguised like a cloud.

As they continue flying Sokka hushes Zian. "Shh! Keep quiet!" Sokka whispers to him. Zian just looks at him and grins. "But I'm bored." He says. They fly until Aang sees a large island and they descend. "I think I see a cave below?" Aang says pointing to a cave as they descend to it. "Shh! Would you keep your voice down?!" Sokka whispers to him. As they are close enough to the ground Aang uses his air bending to disperse the cloud with a gust of air as some birds screech as they are hit by it.

Sokka immediately climbs off of Appa wearing a fire nation cloak underneath his normal tattered wear same as everyone else as he ducks for a nearby rock and leans to see if there is anyone on the other side. He looks at the others. "Great job with the cloud camo but next time let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud that doesn't sing and knows how to keep its mouth shut." He says as he returns to observing. Toph looks at him with a bland face. "Yeah wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turning us in." She says oh so sarcastically.

Sokka looks at her a bit annoyed. "Hey! We're in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds." He says pointing to some birds that are resting on the top of the rock as one of them jumps off it and onto Sokka's head and squawks.

The others laugh at this. They then walk over to the cave that they saw while Sokka still continues to be sneaky as he jumps over them and crashes into the ground. Zian shakes his head. "Whyyyy?" He says in disbelief. Sokka quickly stands up as he runs into the cave and the others follow him. As he reaches the centre of the cave he turns to them. "Well this is it. This is where we'll be living until the invasion begins." He says confident in his idea. "Hiding in cave after cave…after cave…after…cave." He says with his head hung low as he doesn't like the sound of his idea so very much.

"Sokka we don't need to become cavepeople. What we need is some new clothes." Katara says. "Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out. If we get fire nation disguises than we'd be just as safe as we would be hiding in this cave." Aang says. "Plus they have real food out there. Does anyone want to sit in the dirt and eat cave hoppers?" Toph says as she than slams her fist against the cave wall as tenths of cave hoppers come springing out as they jump around on the ground.

Momo slides on the ground as he starts to eat one of the hoppers. The others are even more weirded out when they see that Zian is also eating the cave hoppers raw. They look at him strangely as Zian turns to them and looks at them while a cave hopper leg is hanging from his mouth. "What?" He says unsure of why they are looking at him. Sokka looks at the two of them with a disappointed look. "Looks like we got outvoted." He says as he smiles. "Let's get some new clothes." He says.

They come to an area where not far from the cave as they see a small shack where clothes are hung over some geysers that are letting off steam under them. The group are hiding behind a rock as they look at the area. Aang looks at the clothes with a worried look. "Are you sure we should do this? I mean these clothes belong to somebody and we don't want to offend Mizu by stealing some of these clothes that belong to her people." He says.

Zian points his finger at the area. "Are you talking about a different Mizu? Cause I see ours right over there." He says. They all look to see Mizu running to the clothes as she starts to grab some and quickly pull them off their lines as she continues to take some other parts of clothing. "Ok then." Katara says as she smiles. "I call the silk robe!" She says as she jumps over the rock and runs towards the clothing and grabs the ones she likes.

Zian jumps over the rock as he and the others do the same. They grab the clothes they like while Zian passes the shack and he sees that the man in the charge of them is fat asleep. Zian shrugs as he takes the clothes he wants.

When they are finished with getting the clothes they all run back to the rock as they hide and start to change clothes. Aang puts on his bandana as he turns around. "Tada. Normal looking kid." He says. He is wearing a sleeveless black vest over a tannish shirt as he is also wearing brown pants with red and brown shoes. Sokka is wearing a brown shirt with black pants and brown sandals.

Toph wears an orange robe with a red cloak and belt holding it in place as she also has brown shoes. Mizu is wearing a red kimono with a brown belt with her swords behind her back as she has tan shoes. Zian is wearing a red vest that is over a black long sleeved shirt and has a tan pants with red pointed shoes. Zian looks at Mizu. "Do you think it's a good idea to walk around where we're going while carrying those things?" He asks a bit nervous.

Mizu looks at him. "They are called swords and I'm not an idiot, I'll leave them in the cave with Appa." She says. Zian nods as he doesn't say another word. "Mmm, I should probably wear shoes. But then I won't be able to see as well." Toph says as she sits on a rock and grabs the top part of the shoes. "Sorry shoes." She says as she pulls the top part to her while pushing her feet against the sole. The amount of pressure causes the thread holding the to break as the sole is literally launch out of the shoe as it smacks Sokka right in the face and falls to the ground as Sokka stands there with a red sore mark on his face.

Zian looks at this and snickers as he tries not to laugh. "Looks like there's facepalming yourself and then there foot palming yourself." He says jokingly. Toph stands up. "Ah finally, a stylish shoe for the blind earth bender." She says sounding much relieved after she did that. "How do I look?" They all hear Katara ask as they look at what she is wearing. She is wearing a long red skirt that almost stretches all the way down to her feet and has a red top on that reveals her stomach and is wearing bronze arm bands.

Aang blushes a little bit as he sees something that immediately makes him stop blushing. "Uh your mom's necklace." He says regrettably. Katara is then sad to hear this as she touches her necklace. "Oh…oh yeah…I guess it's pretty obviously water tribe isn't it." She says as she takes off the necklace. She looks at the necklace sadly as she puts it away. Zian rubs his hands together as he looks excited. "Ok let's see what the city of a fire nation civilization looks like." He says as his excitement seems to grow as he runs to the city that is housed on this island. "Zian wait!" Mizu yells as she runs after him. The others roll their eyes as they run after them.

* * *

 **A few distances later**

* * *

They chase Zian for a few moments as they are right behind him. He then suddenly stops as they bump into him. "Would you mind giving us a warning next time?" Mizu says as she rubs her forehead. She then looks to where Zian is looking as she is amazed when she sees what is in front of her. She sees that they are at the city of the fire nation of this island as she is struck in awe. Some of the houses of the residents are built on top of the land scape as well as some factories "So this is place looks huge." She says as Zian looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you live in the fire nation?" He asks. She looks a little bit embarrassed. "Yeah I do, but I'll tell you later." She says as Zian just shrugs.

They walk until they come across a stand. The stand looks as if it is selling accessories such as head wear, necklace's, earrings etc. Katara gives the merchant some money as they all (except Aang) take something. Katara takes a red necklace with three orange circles with one big one in the middle and two small ones one the side as she puts it on. Toph takes a crown like headwear as she places it on and smiles as it is a perfect fit. Sokka takes a string with the fire nation insignia on as he ties it around his hair.

Zian is interested as he sees some red and black fingerless gloves which he takes and puts them on as they fit. "Ooo, comfortable." He says pleased with his choice. Mizu sees a nice red scarf as she takes it and puts it on as she smiles at her choice. Aang holds Momo in front of him as he smiles and lowers Momo's ears as he opens his vest and pushes Momo inside. He then looks at the others. "I used to visit my friend Kuzan here a hundred years ago." He says as he looks over the wall they are hiding in and then back to them. "So everyone just follow my lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the fire nation, stay flame in." He says as he starts to walk out from the wall and into the crowd.

Mizu looks at him as he walks. "Should we tell him that one in the fire nation says that anymore?" She asks to them. Zian smiles. "I think the results will be better if we don't." He says snickering as they all follow him.

Aang walks past a man eating some meat on a stick. "Greetings my good hotman." He says casually with a smile as he walks past the man. The man looks at him confused. "Hi…I guess." He says as the others walk past him. They come to a meat stand where they see meat of all kind as some are skewered like shish kababs. Aang looks at the stand disappointed. "Oh, we're going to a meat place?" He asks.

Sokka turns to him. "Come on Aang everyone here eats meat even the meat." He says pointing to a caw hippo that is eating happily on some chunks of meat. "How does that even work?" Zian asks as he looks at the meat. "For some reason the meat there is really tempting." He says. Mizu looks at him. "Don't tell me you're going to steal." She says. Zian just stares. "Not steal. I just have the sensation of eating it all." He says. "Well don't" Mizu says sounding like she is warning him. Aang stick his tongue out in disgust. "You guys go ahead. I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage." He says.

"I think I'll just stay out here and look around some more. I'm actually fascinated by all this and the design. I'll see you guys back at our place." Zian says looking all around the city. "I think I'll come with you." She says. The others understand this as they nod and head on in to the restaurant. Zian and Mizu separate from Aang as they walk down a street.

After some time Zian glances a little at Mizu. "So you mind telling me what that whole thing was when we arrived?" He asks referring to what she said when they first entered the city. Mizu is a little shy at this as she is a bit worried. "Well…you see…the thing is that." She says when suddenly. "Stop!" They hear a man shout to them as they freeze up. "Don't make any sudden movements." Zian whispers to Mizu. "Turn around you too." The man orders as they do as he says. As they turn to face the person they see that it is a fire nation city guard who accompanied by two other guards.

"Is there a problem sir?" Mizu asks him. The guard looks at them seriously. "Yes, you two are in trouble." He says. Zian starts to become nervous as he is worried that they might know and the consequences that will not only befall him but also his friends. "You two should ashamed of yourselves." The guard says. Zian prepares himself for what comes next. "Skipping school together like that, it's disgraceful." The guard says.

Zian then looks at him confused. "I'm sorry what?" He says not fully following what he is saying. The guard looks at them both. "If you decide to play hooky next time then you should consider not walking around in your school uniform." He says. Zian and Mizu look at their clothes and they are shocked by this fact. Zian gives them a weak smile. "Oops." He says rubbing the back of his head.

The guard gives them a stern look. "Oops indeed. Now you two can either come with us back to school or we're going to have a little talk with your parents." The man says. "Is there a third option?" He asks. The guards then grab him as they yank him and carry him back to the school while Mizu complies and follows them.

* * *

 **Sometime later**

* * *

After a while they come to the school where young fire nation citizen come to learn. The school is situated on top of a mountain to which they walk up to as they pass a concrete bridge and come to the main gate. As they enter the school grounds Zian and Mizu look up to see a large statue of Fire Lord Ozai that stands in the centre of the grounds. They enter the school as the guards are still carrying Zian while Mizu comfortably follows them as she all around the halls taking in the atmosphere.

After a while they stop as they come to a door where Zian and Mizu both assume is the classroom they belong to. The guards open the door as they proceed to throw Zian into the classroom as he falls on the ground and Mizu enters inside and the guards close the door. Zian stands up as he and Mizu look at the classroom to see kids of their age looking at them as they are kneeled behind their desks with their text books opened. The two of them look at the front of the class as they see the teacher (who is in his thirties) is looking at them pretty sternly as he holds a long stick behind his back. "So these are two students that are playing skipping school." He asks as Zian looks at the teacher. "Uh…yes sir." He says. Mizu just nods at him. "I see…and tell me. do you think it's right to skip school just so you can spend some "quality time" with your girlfriend?" He asks.

Zian and Mizu eyes widen. "She is not my girlfriend!" He shouts at the teacher. The teacher immediately slaps Zian on the head with the stick. "Do not speak to your elders' like that young man." He says. Zian rubs the top of his head. "Ow, sorry sir." He says as he looks at the teacher. "If she is not your girlfriend than what is she to you?" the teacher asks him. "She is actually…my sister." He says as this causes Mizu to raise an eyebrow at him as the other kids in the class begin to whisper some things to each other. Zian thinks he could have sworn he heard some boys say that Mizu is pretty.

"What is your name miss?" The teacher asks Mizu. Mizu thinks for a moment. "It's uhh…" She says as she is unable to thinks of a name. Zian stands next to her as his hands are behind his back as he discreetly bumps into her. She notices this as she looks at him and she sees that behind him he is holding a small piece of paper behind his back with the words Elise written on it.

Mizu then looks back at the teacher "Uhm…its Elise sir. My name is Elise." She says. The teacher nods as he then looks at Zian still with the same stern look. "It's Zino sir." He says wanting the teacher to stop looking at him like that. "Nice scar" The teacher says.

The teacher still looks at them sternly. "Is something the matter teach?" He asks. "It's clear that you two are from the fire nation colonies. Otherwise you would have bowed to me when you entered. It goes like this." He says as he demonstrates by facing them as he takes his left hand as he has it at a distance from his chest but at the centre as the hand open flat with the hand vertically up with the fingertips facing the ceiling. His other hand is balled into a fist as it resting on the left hand but under palm with the knuckles on it and the back of the hand facing them.

Zian and Mizu nods as they both do the same as he does. Mizu manages to get it right instantly but Zian get the flat hand right but his fist is resting on top of the fingertips. The teacher once again slaps him on the head harder this time. "Wrong!" He says. Zian tries again but messes up again as teacher gives him another slap. "Try again!" He says. Zian glances over the student as he sees that a short brown head girl who is sitting away from the teacher's view who looks at him as she shows him the way that it is done. Zian smiles as he bows to the teacher once more doing the correct way. "Very good." The teacher says not sounding very pleased by this. "Now go sit at your seats." He orders them as they quickly nod and run to their seats.

* * *

 **Much hours later**

* * *

The bell rings as to signal the end of the day as all of the students open their class doors and walk out of the class. Mizu walks out of the class while Zian walks behind her slouching and a bit tired. "Oh man there's a lot of history involved." He says groaning. "Well at least you didn't fall asleep. I mean really would it bother you to listen?" She asks him. "Well sorry if I don't pay much attention to someone who is a complete jerk." Zian says to her referring to the teacher. "Well you could have at least paid enough attention to do well on the pop quiz." She says. Zian smirks. "Besides, I can smell his launch and I can't wait to eat it." He says.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Zian and Mizu both hear someone say as they turn around and that it is the girl who is in their class and who helped Zian. "That slap that Mr Torino gave you was only a warning. He can get really berserk when someone makes him angry." She says. "Huh, I'll be sure to remember that." He says.

The girl looks at them as she smiles at Zian. "I'm Shimory it's nice to meet you." She says as she extends her hand to Zian. "Nice to meet you too, you already know Zino as my name. Elise is my sister." He says pointing to Mizu. Shimory looks at them both with a raised eyebrow. "Your sister? You don't really look related." She says.

"Different mothers" Mizu quickly says hoping to diminish the girl's suspicions. "Oh." Shimory says as she smiles at Zian. "So are you single then? Want to go on a date sometime?" She asks as this makes Zian's eyes widen. Mizu looks at the girl a bit annoyed. "Actually we have to go now so sorry to leave so soon." Mizu says as she pushes Zian away from the girl and towards the exit of the grounds. Shimory giggles. "No problem, see you two tomorrow." She says waving to them.

Mizu stops pushing Zian they both walk to the exit. "What a nice girl, even if she is a bit straight forward." He says. "A bit too nice." Mizu says sounding hostile. Zian looks at her confused. This causes him to not pay attention as he accidently bumps into someone. Zian almost loses his footing but quickly regains it as he sees who he has bumped into. In front of him is a teenage boy who is roughly the same size as him as he has a mean looking face about him as he looks at Zian with an angry look. The boy also has a short ponytailed girl next to him as he has his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey watch where you're going idiot!" The boy yells at him. Zian looks at him. "Sorry wasn't seeing where I was going." Zian apologizes as he dusts himself off. The boy looks Zian closely. "Say, are you two from the colonies?" He asks. Mizu nods. "Yes we are." She answers him. The boy smirks as she says that. "Well since you're new here I'll give you some slack and not beat you up this time and give you some advice. I'm the head man hear on these grounds so you better watch where you are going or you and me are going to have a little bit of a hard time." He says.

Zian looks at the boy with an annoyed look. "Look man I said I was sorry, can't you just take that and go away?" He asks. The boy gives him a smug look. "Nah how about you apologise to me ten more times." The boy says. "Hide stop it." The girl says to him. Zian looks at Hide now even more irritated. "Don't tempt me." He says to him. "Is that a threat new kid?" He asks Zian. "How about we find out?" He says. Hide and Zian both look at each other with angry faces as they both look like they are ready to throw down. The situation becomes more intense until…

"What's going on here?!" The boys stop when they suddenly hear the voice of Mr Torino who walks to them with a serious face. "Stirring up trouble already on the first day Mr Zino?" The teacher says as Hide looks at him with a smile but Zian still looks at hide with an angry face. "No Mr Torino, we were just engaging in some friendly chat and getting to know each other and I was just showing the new kid around the ground." Hide lies. Mr Torino smiles at this. "Ah always the star pupil. That's good to hear Mr Hide." The teacher says as he turns around and walks away. As soon as he is away from hearing range Hide looks at Zian seriously. "I better not see your face here again." He threatens Zian before walking away with the girl.

Zian looks at him. "Jerk." He says. "Let's just go back to the others." Mizu says. Zian sighs as he nods and they both walk back to the cave.

* * *

 **Some hours later**

* * *

Night rises over the island as the group sit in the around a campfire as they wait for a long time for Aang to return. They suddenly see him entering the cave as Katara looks at him worried. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick." She says to him. Aang walks to them as he is covered in soot while Momo rests on his shoulder. Momo climbs off of him as Aang takes of his headband.

"I got invited to play with some kids after school." He says. Sokka springs up from the ground as he looks at Aang shocked. "After what?!" He shouts. "I enrolled in a fire nation school and I'm going back tomorrow." Aang says. Sokka still looks at him with his jaw hung low. "Enrolled in what?!" He yells. He becomes stiff as a board as he falls to the ground.

Zian looks at him wondering. "This wouldn't happen to be the same fire nation school that is on the top of the hill, wouldn't it?" Zian asks him. Aang nods. Mizu smiles. "Oh cool. Zian and I were also there today." She says. Sokka springs up again as he looks at them with his jaw hung even lower. "WHAT?!" He screams as he falls back to the ground. Zian rolls his eyes as Aang sits down next to them. Sokka recovers as he sits on a rock and looks at Aang.

"Aang I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea, but it sounds terrible." He says. "Yeah we got our outfits. What do you, Mizu and Zian need to go to school for?" Toph asks him. Zian looks at her. "Hey! I was only in that place because I got caught wearing these clothes." He says referring to the school inform he is wearing. Mizu rolls her eyes. "Well don't complain." She says.

"Every minute I'm in that classroom I'm learning some new things about the fire nation. I already have a picture of fire lord Ozai." Aang says as he pulls out a painting of the fire lord. "Well at least we now know what he looks like if we didn't already." He says. "And here's one that I made out of noodles." Aang says showing another picture of the fire lord but this time made entirely out of noodles. "Impressive I'll admit but I still think it's too dangerous." Sokka says trying to have a clear head.

"I guess we'll never find out about the secret river then. It goes right to the fire lord's palace. We were supposed to learn it in class tomorrow." Aang says baiting Sokka. Sokka ponders at this. "I am a fan of secret rivers." He says. Thinks for a moment before looking at Aang. "Fine let's stay for a few more days. You, Mizu and Zian go to the school and learn what you can." Sokka says.

Zian looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Wait what, why am I getting involved in this?" He argues. Sokka looks at him. "The more of you go to that school the better our chances will be of finding any secrets to uncover." He says. "Yeah." Mizu cheers sounding excited of the idea. Zian groans. "I don't want to go back to the school, besides that guy told me he doesn't want to see me at that school." He says.

"What? Are you scared?" Toph mocks him. Zian glares at her. "No, I just don't want to do something that might expose us and get us captured." He says as he crosses his arms. "Besides, if in see that jerk again I might get angry and hurt him." He says. Mizu rolls her eyes. "Yeah well we have no choice in the matter, if we don't go then it might raise some suspicious and probably get us into a lot of trouble." She says. Zian sighs. "Alright, I'll see you guys in the morning." He says as he goes to his sleeping bag and goes to sleep.

* * *

 **The next morning**

* * *

As the sun shines over the fire nation school the students kneel on their cushions in their class as they wait for Mr Torino to arrive as they don't speak nor whisper to each other despite him not being in the classroom. "Must be a harsh school if the kids aren't even allowed to talk to each other while the teacher isn't here." Zian whispers to Mizu who is sitting on his left side as she nods in response. "I mean seriously, I'm sure that these kids behave their best so why doesn't he just allow them to…" Zian silently argues until he hears the door of the classroom open and he sees Mr Torino entering.

"Good morning class." He says with a serious face as he kneels behind his desk and looks at the students. "Recite the fire nation oath." He says. The students turn around as they face a portrait of fire lord Ozai that is placed on a wall at the back of the class as they bow to it with their hands in the greeting way. Mizu and Zian are caught off guard by this sudden moment as they quickly turn around and do the same. "My life I give to my country. With my hands I fight for fire lord Ozai." The students say as they continue. Mizu and Zian don't know the oath as they just move their mouths.

"How do these kids not know they are following a tyrant? Don't they know what it's like outside the school walls?" Zian whispers to Mizu. "They're just kids who are in school. They're not like you and me." Mizu whispers back.

The students are finished with the oath as they all kneel back to their desks as Zian and Mizu do the same and they face the front of the class. Mr Torino gives Zian a stern look. "Since you think that our national oath is less important to you than having chats with your sister, all of you will a 200 word essay explaining on how the fire nation is superior to the filth known as the earth nation and how they are easily beatable." The teacher says.

At hearing him say this, Zian starts to grind his teeth as he becomes angry. Mizu notices this as she becomes nervous. "Zino don't." She whispers to him. Zian raises his hand as the teacher sees it. "Zino?" Mr Torino says. Zian stands up as he looks at the teacher with the same angry look. Zian takes a deep breath as…he smiles. "Well sir, I don't mean to be rude or offend sir in any way but I would like to correct sir on the instructions of the essay." He says as the teacher looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?" He says.

Zian continues to smile. "Well sir, the fact of the matter is that yes we the fire nation are definitely superior to the earth nation. However the fact that they are easily beatable is actually incorrect. You see unlike the fire nation, the earth nation exceeds us in one thing. Stubbornness. That is what keeps them strong and is what made them stand against us for so long. Yes I heard that Ba Sing Se has fallen and the earth nation is at its knees, but one cannot deny that it took us a hundred years and betrayal from the cities own security to finally break down the wall. All I'm saying sir is that I'm certain the earth nation is more than capable." Zian finishes.

Some of the students look at Zian shocked while others look at him impressed, especially Shimory. The teacher however looks at him with a stern look. "Mmm, you seem to think very highly of the earth nation. Stuff like that can put you into a lot of trouble." He says. Zian's eyes widen as he becomes nervous and rubs the back of his head. "I'll just write on how much of slimy and mucky pigs they are." He says as he quickly kneels back down. The looks at him curiously before leaving him be and continues doing his own work.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

* * *

The bell gongs as it signals for break time as all of the students in the classroom leave and head out into the courtyard. Zian looks a little tired as he walks next to Mizu. "I'm starting to get the feeling that the teacher is targeting me personally." He says. Mizu rolls her eyes "Well he's a jerk and you sort of give him a reason to." She says.

They walk on the courtyard until they see Aang talking to a girl. Zian waves to him until he sees Hide walking to Aang with an angry face. Hide shoots a fireball at Aang who quickly dodges it and Mizu and Zian look at the scene with wide eyes. "Uh-oh." They both say in unison.

"What you say colony trash?" Hide asks Aang in a hostile manner as he is still in his stance. "You're gonna show her something?" He asks as he walks to him. Aang just looks at him unfazed by his anger. "Just some dance movements." He says non chalantly. Hide is close to Aang as he looks down at him. "Nobody shows my Anji anything." He says with his temper rising and his hands balling into fists. "Especially moves." He says as he thrusts his arm back.

Aang is ready to dodge as he waits for hide to strike. As he gets ready he sees Hide doesn't strike as he sees that Zian is standing right behind the boy holding Hide's arm stopping him from attacking. Hide turns his head to face Zian who looks at him seriously. "I wouldn't recommend that." Zian says as he yanks Hide's arm away causing him to almost lose his balance.

After he gets his footing back he looks at Zian. "I thought I told you I didn't want to see your face here again." He says. Zian just grins at him. "I don't really listen to idiots." He says. This raises Hide's temper as he charges forward at him. He raises his fist and lunges forward to strike Zian in the face. Zian doesn't move however as when the fist is just right to his face he swiftly moves his hand in front of his face as he grabs the boy's fist.

Hide stands there stunned as he is unable to comprehend how someone was able to stop his attack so easily despite the fact that he put his all into it. Zian slowly moves his fist away while hide struggles to pull it away from him. Zian lowers the boy's fist as he looks at the kid with dead serious eyes as they are filled in red. Hide looks at him as his body trembles at the site of those blood red eyes. "You are in way over your head." Zian says to him in a deep low voice.

"What's going on here?!" Someone screams as Zian's eyes turn back to normal and he let's go of Hide's fist. Zian shakes his head. "What the?" He says confused. "Mr Zino!" Zian hears someone call out his fake name as he turns around to face the person. Behind him he sees Mr Torino who is standing next to the headmaster of the school who is looking at Zian with a serious face as he has his hands behind his back. "Oh crud." Zian says.

"Making fights on your second day? We need to have a conference to discuss your punishment." The head master says as Hide stands up as his eyes have tears. Zian looks at him and knows that he is just faking it. The headmaster dusts Hide off. "Bring your parents to my office after school." He orders him.

"What?! But he..." Zian says trying to defend himself as the headmaster just cuts him off. "Don't be late." He says as he just walks away with Hide right behind him as he grins at Zian and follows the head. Zian glares at Hide as he stands there with his fist balled and growling at the cocky teen.

* * *

 **Later that day**

* * *

Zian sits on a chair in the centre of two seats who are both occupied by Katara and Sokka. The headmaster sits behind his desk as he looks "Thank you for coming mister and misses…" He says unsure what to call them. Sokka is sitting on Zian's right side wearing a big beard that almost covers his bottom face while Katara sits on his left wearing some other clothes as she has a pillow under her clothes to pretend she is pregnant. "Fire, Wang Fire." Sokka says in a rough voice as he gestures to Katara. "And this is my wife Sapphire." He says.

Katara smiles as she nods. "Sapphire Fire, nice to meet you." She says. The headmaster looks at them both. "Mister and misses…Fire." He says feeling like that is a ridiculous last name. "Your has been here for two days and he is already causing problems. He's argued with the teacher, disrupted the class and also roughed up my star pupil." He says as Zian growls at the last part.

The headmaster doesn't luckily hear this as he looks at the "family". Katara looks at him shocked. "My goodness. That doesn't sound like our Zino." She says acting like she is worried. "That's what any mother would say ma'am. Nonetheless you were forewarned. If he acts up one more time I'll have him send to reform school." He says as he stands up and looks at them seriously. "BY which I mean the coal mines." He says. Zian looks at him with raised eyebrows. "Yikes, harsh." He says mumbles.

"Are we clear?" The headmaster asks. "Don't you worry Mr. Headmaster, I'll straighten this boy out something fierce." Sokka says with his rough voice as he looks at Zian. He then towers Zian as Zian hunches down as he looks at an angry Sokka. "Young man as soon as we get home you're gonna get the punishment of a life time!" He yells as Zian looks at him wide eyed at Sokka.

The headmaster sits back on his chair as he crosses his arms and still has the serious look on his face. "That's what I like to hear." He says pleased with the scene. Katara stands up as Zian follows her shaking his head while Sokka marches behind him as they walk out the office, out of the school and back to the cave.

* * *

 **Back at the cave**

* * *

"That settles it! No more school for you young man." Sokka says with the rough voice at Zian as he then proceeds to stroke his beard as he looks at Aang and Mizu. "And that also counts for you two." He says as Mizu moans. "Aw man." She says. Zian rolls his eyes. "Fine, "dad"." He says sarcastically. Aang however stands up. "But I'm not ready to leave. I'm having fun for once. Just being a normal kid. You don't know what it's like Sokka. You get to be normal all the time." Aang says. "Haha." Toph and Zian mock Sokka as Aang says that to him as Sokka glares at them.

"Listen guys. Those kids in the school are the future of the fire nation. If we want to change this place for the better then we need to show them a little taste of freedom." Aang says. "What could you possibly do for a country of depraved little fire monsters?" Sokka asks as he then looks at Mizu. "No offense." He says. Mizu just waves it off. "None taken. My nation is filled with fire monsters." She says. "So what are you going to do?" She asks Aang.

Aang looks at them as he smiles. "I'm going to throw them…a secret dance party." He says as he does a little dance to further his idea. Everyone looks at him baffled by what he just said. "Go to your room!" Sokka says in his father voice.

* * *

 **Later**

* * *

After some time, the others decided to go along with Aang's idea as they start setting up the cave in preparation for the secret dance party which is happing tonight. Mizu places a bunch of candles all around under the walls of the cave as she lights them all up with fire. Zian and Toph use their earth bending to create a stadium and some rock tables and chairs.

"I can't believe we're having a dance party. It seems so…silly." Sokka says to Aang. "Don't think of it as a dance party, but as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy work." Aang says as smiles while doing a little jig. Zian grins as he looks at the Airbender. "Yeah…call me a pessimist." He says. "Pessimist." Mizu says as she giggles. Zian stops as he squints his eyes at her before looking back to Aang. "But do you really think this is a good idea?" He asks. Aang looks at him smiling. "What can go wrong?" He asks. Zian rolls his eyes. "Oh I can think of a couple of things." He says thinking about the possible consequences that this party can cause for them.

After a few moments Toph yells. "They're coming, everyone stop bending!" Everyone does so as Aang walks to Appa. "Sorry buddy. You should probably wait out back." He says as Appa groans as he walks to a dark hole at the back of the cave. Aang looks at him. "I know, you got fancier feet than anybody and six of them." He says as he walks back to the others as Appa disappears from site.

After a while the students who are in the music club are all on the stage as they start to play. Aang jumps in front of the stage as he faces the band. "Ladies and gentlemen! The flameos!" He shouts as he crosses his arms. "Yeah, this will get everyone moving." He says. His stands corrected as he looks at all of the students as he sees that none of them are not dancing or having fun. Instead they're all standing inside the cave all awkward like. One of the kids looks at him confused. "Now what do we do?" He asks him.

Aang smiles. "This is where you start dancing." He says. "I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave." One of the boys says as he sinks his head into the collar of his shirt. Another boy comes in front of the other looking all panic like. "Yeah, what if someone finds out?" He says as he runs to hide. Aang rubs the back of his head realizing that this is harder than he thought. "Oh boy. Listen guys, dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression." He says.

A boy walks to the front as he looks at Aang. "Maybe it was different in the colonies Kuzan but we don't do that here." He says.

* * *

 **A few moments later (Because this is dragging on too long)**

* * *

After what the boy said they all start dancing as Aang was able to convince them as they all enjoy themselves. "Even though it took a boy, some encouragement and a lot of years to do it. These kids now know how to relax and express themselves." Zian says. "Even though they will probably get in trouble I'm sure they won't give up on this new found freedom." Mizu says smiling. Zian smiles as he raises his cup to toast. Mizu does the same as they both to each other. "You know maybe they won't be in trouble. I'm sure we're safe here." Zian says as he drinks his cup.

"He's the one we want! The two boys! The boy with the head band and the boy with the scar!" Someone shout. Zian does a spit take as he looks to the entrance and sees that it is the Head master. "We're out of here." He says as he quickly grabs Mizu and they run off. The group manage to escape the cave undetected as they fly off on Appa.

"We're safe Sokka. You can take off the moustache now." Katara says looking at Sokka who is still wearing the beard and moustache. "Oh no I can't. It's permanently glued to my skin." He says stroking the moustache. Zian grabs the moustache and rips it off his face. "Ow!" Sokka shout as Zian grins. "Fixed it." He says gladly as Sokka scowls at him. "Way to go fancy pants. You really did help those kids. You taught them to be free" Toph compliments Aang. Aang rubs the back of his head. "I don't know, it was just a dance party that's all." He says.

"Well that was some dance party Aang." Katara says as she kisses him on the cheek. He blushes as he smiles. Sokka claps his hands. "Flameo sir, Flameo." He says. Mizu nudges Zian's rib. "You think you will ever dance with me?" She whispers. Zian smiles. "maybe someday." He says as he falls asleep.

* * *

Woooo this took longer than expected. Sorry for the big gap. I had tests to do so yeah. But I hope you enjoyed and liked it. As always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	3. Chapter 3: The Painting Lady

The next chapter is here. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 3: The Painting Lady

* * *

After the battle of great nut peak our heroes travel through the misty mountains in search of… (Writer looks at the script) Oops sorry readers wrong story. (Throws the script away hearing a distant cat screeching and pulls out the script for this chapters story) Ah here we go now. (Clears throat)

After their escape at the fire nation city the group ride on Appa as he is swimming through a river that appears to be very mucky and polluted. Zian is playing on a lute that was able to "obtain" frim the city they were at as he plays some music. Mizu is reading a book which she "borrowed" from the school library. Toph and Katara are relaxing while Sokka is fishing. Lastly Aang is swimming around the river playing a game of marco polo with Momo. "Momo" Aang calls the lemur as he dives into the river.

The lemur flies to where he heard him as he doesn't find him. "Oh Momo." Aang says again this time behind the lemur before diving back in. Momo heads to that location as he sees that he is not there. Aang pops back up again away from Momo as he goes to call again. Before he can do that Momo is this time quicker as he flies to Aang quickly and lands on his shoulder. Aang chuckles at this. "You found me buddy." He says.

He then flies out of the river and onto the saddle as he stands there and looks at his muck covered body. "Hey guys, I think this river is polluted." He says. "Gee you don't say." Zian says sarcastically as he rolls his eyes. Aang uses he air bending to blast the muck off of him as the muck splatters onto the others. "Thanks." Zian says giving Aang a deadpan face.

Toph gags at tasting the muck as Aang blows wind on them and the muck comes off of them. Sokka looks at them. "Well that explains why I can't catch any fish around here. Because normally my fishing skills are…off the hook." He says showing his fishing hook to extend the joke. No one laughs however. "Get it? Like a fishing hook?" He explains as still no one laughs.

"Too bad your skills aren't…on the hook." Toph says as everyone laughs but Sokka who looks at them with an irritated look. "Looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food." Katara says. Sokka unrolls a very long schedule as it stretches all the way to the end of the saddle. "Assuming that will fit into Sokka's master schedule." She says. Zian grabs the end of the schedule as he looks at it. "Mmmm, it's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today." He says. Mizu looks at the schedule. "I still can't believe you made this ridicules schedule." She says dumbfounded. Sokka looks at her. "Hey, it efficient and necessary if we want to be with our allies in time when the solar eclipse happens." He says.

"Still think it's ridiculous." Mizu says as she rolls the list back up. "Hey, maybe we can get food there?" Aang says as everyone looks to what he is pointing at. They see that he is pointing to a small village that is coming into view as they pass the rocks blocking their view. The village is resting on the lake as beams are supporting the foundation and houses.

They decide to make camp just some ways from the village so that they aren't seen. Aang decides to cover Appa in a green blanket to look like grass as he covers Appa with it as to disguise the bison. "Now you look just like a little hill with horns. Bye buddy." Aang says as he runs to the others leaving Appa and Momo, who is also covered in a green blanket.

They walk a little high up the small island as they look at the village in front of them. "I don't feel anything. Where's this village?" Toph asks. "It's in the middle of the river." Sokka explains.

"Sure is." The group suddenly hear someone say as they look down and see a man wearing an orange folded hat and an open vest who looks to be around thirty or forty as he is looking up at them in his small boat with a smile. "My name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?" He says.

Zian thinks for a moment as he looks at the man. "We're from the earth kingdom colonies." He says. Dock looks at them amazed. "Wow, colonials. Hop on I'll give you a ride to town." He says. The group nod to each other as they climb off the edge and get into the boat. As they are in Dock uses the long pole he has with him to push the boat forward.

"Why do you guys live on the river?" Katara asks. "Because we're a fishing town." Dock answers as he swings the pole over the group's heads as he pushes from the other side. "At least that's how it was before the factory moved in." He says as they move through the river as they look to their right and see a giant factory build on top of the mountain some distance away from the village. Zian looks at the factory and growls.

The factory emits smoke from its chimneys clouding the sky in black fog. Zian sees that on the factory is a huge fire nation insignia on it. "The army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunging our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive." Dock says. Upon hearing all this Zian gets even angrier as so does Mizu. "They think they can have their way and believe there will be no consequences." Mizu says. Katara places a hand on a shoulder of the two. "Calm down you two. We're not here to fight." She whispers to them.

Zian and Mizu look at each other and then back at Katara as they nod. They arrive at the village as Dock stops near the foundation and they climb out while Sokka helps Toph out. "Thanks for the ride." Aang says to Dock as the group waves to him before they leave him and walk around the village.

As they pass through they see a lot of sick people both young and old who are suffering from both sickness and hunger. "Look at this place. It's so sad." Katara says sadden by the state that these people are in. "We have to do something to help." She says. After she says that Sokka moves behind her. "No we can't waste our time here. We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own." He says as he walks.

Katara runs to him as she grabs his shoulder and spins him so that he faces her. "These people are starving. But you turn your back on them? How can you be so cold and heartless?" She asks him angrily. "I'm not turning my back, I'm just being realistic. We can't go around helping every rinky dink town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the fire lord." He says.

As soon as he says that Zian quickly grabs him as he has Sokka in a hold while covering his mouth. "Shut up loudmouth! Do you want everyone to know of our mission? Don't blow our cover." He says. Zian than let's go of him as Sokka stands up right and looks again at Katara. "Come on Katara be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first." He says. "He's right, even though I don't much like leaving the people in this state I believe we should just stick to the mission." Mizu says.

"Katara looks a little bit away from Sokka. "I guess so." She says trying to accept this. "Let's just get what we need and go." Aang says. Zian's stomach growls. "Yeah I'm kind of hungry myself." He says as they walk. They keep walking until they come to a shop that has a shark like jaw on the top of the stand. The owner has his back to the group as Sokka rings the little hanging bell as the owner turns to them with a smile.

They see that it is Dock smiling at them. "Hey Dock. You have two jobs?" Zian asks the man. "I'm not Dock, I'm Shoe. Docks my brother." Shoe/Dock says. The group look at him confused by this. "But we just saw you; you are even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is your hat." Aang tells him.

Shoe/Dock looks at him still smiling. "Dock works on the Docks, that's why they call him Dock. I work at the shop, that's why they call me Shoe." Shoe/Dock explains. Everyone looks at him even more confused.

Zian shrugs. "Makes senses to me." He says. "Well I don't get it." Aang says. "Me neither." Shoe/Dock says as he sinks behind his stand and rises back up to pull up a crate of fish and clams. "What can I get ya?" Shoe/Dock asks as he places the crate on the stand. The group (besides Toph) look at the crate as they see a bunch of disgusting and rotten yet edible fish.

"Hey I'll give you a special deal. If you buy three fish I'll throw in a clam for free." Shoe/Dock says. Sokka squishes the top of the clam's heads as some of the disgusting sludge that is in the lake comes out of it as they all groan in disgusts. "We'll just take the fish." Sokka says as he takes three fish out of the crate as Shoe/Dock wraps it up for them. "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore." Sokka says as Shoe/Dock hand him the wrapped fish.

He then sinks behind his stand as he rises back up wearing the hat he wears when riding his boat. "Hey there colonials. My brother says you need a lift." Dock/Shoe says as he jumps over his "brother's" stand and walks to the docks.

Mizu looks at Dock/Shoe walking to the Docks. "You guys sure do meet some weird people." She says. "You have no idea." Zian says as they follow Dock/Shoe. They walk to the docks as Zian stops and sees Katara giving a young boy some food. He sighs as he looks all around the people and is saddened by how much struggle they are in.

He then feels a hand on his shoulder as he looks to see that it is Mizu who also has a sad look. "I know how you feel." She says before walking to the others. Zian looks at the village as he gives one last sigh before walking to the boat.

* * *

 **At night**

* * *

After the sun has set on them. The group decide to make camp here for tonight. Zian uses his bending to make the top part of a tunnel longer so as they won't be woken up by the heat of the sun. Mizu uses her fire bending to light a fire for them while Aang and Toph use their bending to pull the clean water and the muck apart so that they can use the water to cook.

"Our detour in town today has completely thrown us of schedule." Sokka complains as he takes some water from the pot and pours it into a cup while looking at his "full proof" schedule. "It's going to take some serious finagling to get us back on track." He says as he unwraps the large schedule.

"Finagle away oh schedule master." Toph says as they all walk to him as he places the schedule on the ground. "Well for starters it looks like we'll have to wake up forty three minutes early every day." He says as Katara looks at him confused. "Forty-three minutes?" She says. "Sounds insane, but okay." Mizu says to him.

Sokka looks at them. "Look all I'm saying is that we only have a few weeks to get to the fire lord in time for the eclipse, which by the way only lasts for eight minutes and we just lost a whole day. So if we want to make up for the time and stay on schedule then we have to wake up early." He says.

Zian lies on his back as he looks up at the sky. "Yeaaaaah, sorry but waking up early isn't going to work for me." He says not really liking Sokka's whole idea. Sokka crosses his arms as he pouts. "Or we can always cut out all of our eating breaks." He says. Immediately after he said that everyone starts complaining.

Sokka smiles as an idea flashes in his mind and he turns to the others. "I got it. From now on we'll take food breaks and potty breaks at the same time." He says sounding so sure of himself. At that moment he receives a face full soup as it is thrown by Mizu. "You are so disgusting." Mizu says at Sokka's idea. Sokka wipes his face of as he looks at them. "Hey it might be gross but it's efficient." He says as he picks up his schedule. "Either way we have to leave first thing in the morning." He says as he takes his schedule and walks to his sleeping bag.

Zian sighs as he hears that. Mizu places a hand on his shoulder as he looks at her. She smiles at him. "Don't be sad. I'm sure that the village will be fine. We'll come back when we are done with this whole war thing and help these people." She says. Zian looks at her and although he doesn't feel completely at ease with the idea of helping these later than now he can at least feel comfort in knowing that he will help them. Zian stands up as he walks to his sleeping bag as he climbs into it and shuts his eyes.

* * *

 **The next morning**

* * *

As the sun rises over the mountains Zian's eyes open as he as he sits up straight and stretches his arms before letting out a loud yawn. He stands up as he looks at Mizu, whose sleeping bag is close to his, wake up as she also yawns. She rubs her eyes as she looks up at him. She looks at him confused. "What?" She asks as he just chuckles. "Nothing." He says chuckling before walking over to Katara who is looking at a not so well Appa.

Aang jumps off the rock he is sleeping on as he looks at Katara. "What's the matter Katara?" He asks walking over to the bison who is groaning. Toph, Mizu and Zian walk over to them while Toph stretches her arms. "I think Appa is sick." Katara says.

"What?! Appa's sick?! That's Awful!" Sokka yells out as he jumps out of his sleeping bag and runs to the bison. Toph is a little surprised by this. "Wow Sokka I didn't realise you cared so much." She says. "Of course I care." Sokka says as he pulls out his schedule. "I might as well throw our schedule away now." He says as he looks at his schedule and then at the others who look at him with scowls. "You want to rephrase that?" Zian says to him.

Sokka immediately hugs Appa. "And I'm concern because my big furry friend doesn't feel well." He says now showing concern for Appa's wellbeing. "He must have gotten sick from the polluted water." Toph says. Aang inspects the bison. "He doesn't look sick." He says. "You okay buddy?" He asks Appa who responds by groaning I discomfort. Aang notices something as Aapa opens his mouth as he grabs Appa's tongue and pulls it out.

"His tongue is purple. That can't be good." He says as they all see that the tip till halfway to Appa's tongue is covered in a purple colour. Everyone faces to Zian who is looking at Appa's tongue as he then looks at the others in confusion. "What?" He says.

"Can't you cure Appa?" Aang asks him. Zian looks at him. "Just because I'm able to understand animals doesn't mean I'm some sort of animal doctor." He says. Aang looks to Katara. "Katara can you heal him?" Aang asks her. Katara examines the bison's tongue. "It looks like he needs some medicine. Maybe we can find the right herbs in town." She explains. "Good idea." Mizu says as they walk to the town.

As they arrive at the town they start to notice something different about the village. Yesterday the whole village looked miserable and were struggling; now it looks like the village is happy and filled with a little more joy. "Is it just me or do the people here seem…happy?" Mizu says. "Seems like it." Zian says as they walk on to Shoe/Dock's shop.

"Hey Shoe what's going on with everyone today?" Sokka asks the fishmonger who is slurping on some water as he looks at the group with a smile. "Ah something amazing happened last night. Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person." He says sounding hopeful. Mizu turns her head a little to Zian as he notices this. "Don't look at me I'm neither mysterious nor wonderful." He says as Mizu looks back at Shoe/Dock.

"It was the Painted Lady." Shoe/Dock explains as Sokka looks at him with a disinterested face. "The painted who now?" Katara says not following. Zian grins. "You know, the Painting Lady. I hear she makes some great artwork." He says as Mizu just rolls her eyes. "Very funny Zian." She says as Zian snickers. "Anyway, who is this Painted Lady?" Mizu asks Shoe/Dock. "She's part of our town's lore." He says as he pulls out a small wooden statue figure of a woman with a flat circular hat with a crescent shape moon on her forehead. She is wearing scratches of makeup and a tan robe.

"The say she is a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was a legend. Until now." Shoe/Dock says as everyone turns to looks at all of the villagers are filled with life. "See we don't need to help these people they already have someone to help them." Sokka says while Zian looks at the villagers curiously. "But why help them now rather than sooner?" He wonders as he ponders on the thought.

Sokka looks back at Shoe/Dock. "All we need is some medicine or our sick friend." Sokka says. "Sorry, all the medicine we have goes to the factory. That's why there's so many sick people in our village." Shoe/Dock explains. Zian looks at Mizu as he sees that she seems to be clearly upset. "Are you are alright?" He asks her. She grinds her teeth in anger. "How can my people be so cruel to this to these people?" She says. Zian places a hand on her shoulder as she looks at him. "There's no point in getting angry over this. It won't help." He says as Mizu calms down as she sighs. "Yeah I guess you're right." Mizu says.

"Looks like we need to stay another night so that Appa can rest." Katara says. Sokka responds by groaning and sinking his head. "I guess you're right." Sokka says as he looks at Shoe/Dock. "You got any more food to sell?" Sokka asks. Shoe/Dock quickly sinks under his stand as he rises back up holding a fish in each hand. "Would you like the one headed fish…or the two headed fish?" Shoe/Dock asks as he rotates the fish in his right hand to show that the fish has two heads adjacent to each other.

Sokka and Zian look at the fish as they think. Zian stops thinking as he smiles. "The two headed one please." Zian says as he quickly grabs the two headed fish. Everyone excluding Sokka looks at him with digusted faces as he and Sokka looks at them all confused. "What it's something new." He says. "And you get more for your money that way." Sokka adds as everyone just responds by groaning in distaste as they don't like the smell of the fish as they run away from them. Zian and Sokka are still confused by this as they run after the others.

* * *

 **The next morning**

* * *

The sun shines ones again on the village as the group return to the village and go to the stand where they see a happy Dock/Shoe polishing the small of the Painted Lady he showed them yesterday. Sokka walks up to Dock/Shoe. "Hi Dock, is Shoe around?" Sokka asks. "Let me check." Dock/Shoe says as he throws the cloth he was using to polish the statue over his shoulder.

He runs around to the back of his stand as he sinks behind it and pops back up wearing the same hat when he is Shoe. "I can't believe we are just accepting this?" Zian says baffled by this. Shoe/Dock runs to the front of the stand as he leans on the counter giving them a smile. "Hey there, back again are ya?" He asks. Toph walks in front of Sokka as she shoves him away.

"We need more food." Toph says as she places money on the counter. "Our friend is still sick and we can't leave until he is better." She says. Shoe/Dock takes the money and places for clams on a plate as he places them on the counter. Sokka and Zian look at the clams as the sludge in the clams mouth starts to run down the mouth like someone drooling as Sokka and Zian shiver at the thought of eating those things.

"Oh that's too bad. Maybe if you guys are lucky the Painted Lady will visit you at night and heal your friend." Shoe/Dock says. "And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack and we'll all have a sing along." Sokka says sarcastically. "Yeah maybe." Shoe/Dock says not really noticing Sokka's sarcasm. "Yeah I still don't really believe that this whole Painted Lady spirit is real." Zian says as Mizu gives him a smirk. "Says the one who can hear them and talk to them." She says. Zian gives her a deadpan look. "Shut up." Is all he can say while Mizu giggles.

"You know last night she visited us again and healed most of our sick folk." Shoe/Dock says as everyone looks at the whole village bustling with joy. "Is that why this whole place seems so festive?" Aang asks. She/Dock nods. "Yep, it's because of the Painted Lady." She/Dock says as the group sees the villagers erecting a statue of the Painted Lady in the middle of the village as they cheer.

"Can you believe how much a whole village can be affected by one lady? I mean spirit?" Katara says as she looks at the statue with hope. "Well I hope she returns every night, otherwise this village will go right back to the way it was." Sokka says always speaking his mind.

Katara looks at him a bit annoyed. "Why would you say that? Look how much better these people are." She says. "Yeah now, but without her they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves. If she really wanted to help she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory." Sokka says as he starts making some weird woo sound followed by a mimic explosion.

Aang looks at him offended. "Spirit magic doesn't work that way Sokka. It goes more like this." He says as he makes his whole body do some wiggly motion. Annoyed by their behaviour Katara marches off away from them.

Zian stretches his arms. "Whelp I'm beat, I'm going back to the island." He says as he walks to the Docks while Mizu and Toph follow him. "I think we should take down the factory. Think about it, if we do so the lake will stop being polluted and it will help these people a great deal." Mizu suggest the idea. "Yeah but it will also anger the fire nation that are working in the factory and guess who will be put the blame on? The villagers." Toph says.

"She's right and if the fire nation of this place decides that the people have to rebuild the factory, which I'm sure they will, we'll also be in trouble due to the village ratting us out." Zian says. Mizu looks a little disappointed as she sighs. "I guess you're right. So that means we'll have to just wait until Appa gets better and leave." She says. "Why do I get the feeling he is not actually sick." Zian says pondering at the thought.

* * *

 **The next day**

* * *

"And that feeling of mine was true." Zian says as he has wakened up to see that Katara is not in her sleeping bag as he sees that it filled with nothing but straw so that it looks like she is sleeping in it. Zian turns to Aang's sleeping bag and see that it is also empty and he is not in it. Everyone stands there as they wait for the two other members to return.

After a few moments they see the two coming out from behind a rock. "Hi you two." Zian says looking a bit mad as he has his arms crossed. Aang and Katara recoil back in shock. "Uh…Hi you guys. We…were just out on…a morning walk." Katara says sounding nervous. "Oh really? A morning walk?!" He asks sounding very annoyed. Zian holds Katara sleeping bag as he flips it upside down and shakes it as straw comes out of it proving Katara's story to be false.

Katara and Aang look ashamed. "I know you're the Painted Lady. I know you've been sneaking out at night and I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him purplelysing tongue berries!" Sokka says pointing to Toph you stick her tongue out which is completely purple while holding a small bag of the berries. "In all honesty we only discovered all this, this morning." Mizu says.

"Katara what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now." He demands as Katara walks past him feeling very ashamed while Aang walks behind her. "And how long did you know?!" Sokka says to Aang stopping him. "Hey I just found out this morning." Aang says as he quickly runs away not wanting to deal with any more of Sokka's anger.

As they are busy packing the suddenly hear buzzing sound. They turn to look at the lake to see that it the sound of vehicles that are being driven by fire nation soldiers that are heading towards the village. The group hide behind the edge of the hill as they look. "What going on?" Toph asks. "Fire nation soldiers as heading to the village." Aang explains.

Sokka looks at his sister furiously. "What did you do?!" He yells. Katara can't help but look at the ground. "I kind of destroyed their factory." She says. Zian looks at her shocked. "YOU WHAT?!" He shouts. Katara looks at Sokka. "It was your idea Sokka!" Katara says to him. "I was joking. I also used spirit magic and funny noises to emphasise it." Sokka says as he face palms. "Did you even think this through!? The army is going to blame the villagers. They're heading their right now to get revenge!" He says.

"Well what was I supposed to do?" Katara asks him. "Leave! Do nothing!" He shouts. Finally that's the breaking point for Katara as she looks at her brother in rage. "NO! I WILL NEVER EVER TURN MY BACK ON PEOPLE WHO NEED ME!" She yells as she stands up. "I'm going down to the village and I'm going to do whatever I can." She says as she starts walking down the hill.

She walks down to the shore. "Wait!" She hears her brother say as he grabs her shoulder and stops her. "I'm coming too." Sokka says. Katara turn to him with a confused look. "I thought you didn't want to help?" She says. "You need me and I will never turn my back on you." Sokka says to her as this makes Katara smile. "Sokka you really do have a heart." She says as she hugs him.

"He does? I always questioned that." Zian says. Mizu looks at him sternly. Zian grins at this. "I'm only kidding." He says. Mizu smiles as she looks at Katara and Sokka. "Probably." Zian says. Mizu punches him on the shoulder. Zian rubs his arms as he chuckles.

After some time (cause I want to get it done already) the group use the Painted Lady thing as a way to scare the soldiers away from the village as the leader is swimming in the polluted lake due to him getting thrown in it he looks up to see the Painted Lady (aka Katara) floating above him while fog swirls all around her as she looks down at him with a serious look. "Leave this place and never come back." She says. The leader swims as fast as he can away from her as one of the soldiers rides towards him as the soldiers picks him out of the lake and they ride off as they disappear behind the mountains.

Zian, Mizu, Toph and Sokka ride on a boat to the village as they have orchestrated the whole fight from the behind the scenes. Cheering and joy can be heard from the villagers as they cheer for the Painted Lady who lands on the docks in front of them.

"Thank you." Dock/Shoe says as he walks to Katara. "Me and my brothers really owe you a lot." He says as he looks at her and is a bit surprised. "Hey wait a minute, I know you. You're not the Painted Lady. You're that colonial girl." He says. The fight had been quick and due to this caused Katara's make-up to mess up and come off. "Yeah, you're that lady that gave me a fish." A kid says.

Shoe/Dock becomes a little angry. "You've been tricking us. You're a water bender." He says. "How dare you act like our Painted Lady." A villager says. Soon the entire village starts ranting and booing her.

Zian growls at this as he looks at the villagers angrily. "Shut up!" He shouts as this causes the village to become silent. "Are you all so helpless and blind that you can't even see help when it's been offered to you?!" He says.

Sokka nods at this. "He's right. Because of her that factory won't be polluting your river and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her." He says. He feels Katara's hand on her shoulder. "Sokka it's okay." She says as she takes off her hat and looks at the villagers.

"I shouldn't've acted like someone I wasn't and I shouldn't've tricked you, but I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not because your problems are real and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You'll have to help yourselves." She says. Dock/Shoe sighs after she is finished with her speech. "She's right, but what can we do?" He asks.

"Maybe we can clean the river." Toph says in a deep voice from behind the crowd. Dock/Shoe's face lights up. "Ahh, maybe we can clean the river." He says acting like he came up with the idea on his own. The crowd cheers at this as they walk to their boats.

Dock/Shoe walks over to Katara smiling. "Thank you. You know you're not so bad for a water bender." He compliments her. "You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret by the way, would you?" Sokka asks.

Dock/Shoe smiles at them. "No problem. Keeping my mouth shut is a specialty of mine. Now my brother Shoe on the other hand…woo he's a blabber mouth." Dock/Shoe says. Sokka faceplams while Zian and Mizu cross their arms. "Dually noted." They both say in unison as they then look at each other surprised.

"So Dock, are you going to help us clean?" Katara asks him. Dock/Shoe waves her no. "No ma'am, I am going to get my other brother Bushy. He loves cleaning rivers." He says as he proceeds to take off his hat as another one unfolds under it into a flat circular hat. He smiles at them. "Alright, I'm Bushy. Let's get some river cleaning." Bushy/Dock/Shoe (Fun typing that) says as he puts his hands on his hips.

Aang walk to the front as he grins while pointing at him. "Aha I knew you were the same guy. The Shop owner and the boat guy." He says feeling confident. Bushy/Dock/Shoe just smiles as he tips his hat. "Oh you must be talking about my brothers Dock and Shoe." He says. Aang looks at him perturbed. "No I just saw you. You switched hats and called yourself a different name." Aang argues with him.

"Oh, you know who does that? My brother Dock." Bushy/Dock/Shoe says as he leans in close to Aang. "He's crazy." He says as he starts laughing before walking away. Aang looks at the him walk away he stands there while steam comes out of his ears. Mizu places a hand on his shoulder as she sighs. "Let it go Aang. Just accept and move on." She says not wanting to make a big deal out of this.

After some time maybe even a lot of hours the whole village along with the group help to clean the river by removing the muck and sludge in it and disposing it. As time passes the river becomes clearer and clearer until it starts to sparkle. After the hard work is finished and the river is clean and healthy again the group decide to say their farewells and head back to their camp.

* * *

 **That night**

* * *

With the moon shining high in the sky, everyone is in their sleeping bags fast asleep and having sweet dreams. Everyone except for Zian who is staring up at the night sky while lying on his back in his sleeping bag. "Seems like a nice night, isn't it?" He says. "It sure is." Tui says who is lying next to him.

Zian smiles. "Tell me. Is the Painted Lady real?" He asks the moon spirit. "Maybe or maybe not. Either way life is better when it is filled with mystery." Tui responds vaguely. Zian rolls his eyes. "Alright then." He says as he goes to sleep. Tui looks at Zian as he smiles. "He really is proud of you." Tui says as he fades away.

* * *

Hey guys sorry for the long delay in this chapter was busy with exams and so I had to focus but don't worry I'm back and ready to write so be prepared for new existing chapters. As always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	4. Chapter 4: Scammefied

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 4: Scammefied

* * *

Tension looms over the canyon as Katara, Toph and Mizu all stand in a triangle formation as they get ready to… "You ready yet Aang?!" Zian shouts out as the tension fades. "Yes, I'm ready for some training." Aang says as he puts on a blind fold as he turns to face them. Zian grins as he continues to play on his lute.

The four of them stand there as they wait. Aang moves to the side as he dodges an emerging pillar and does so again by moving diagonally to avoid another pillar and again with a third pillar. He stands still as he waits again. Katara throws a water whip at him as dodges it and throws it back while Katara parries it and throws a boulder at Toph. Mizu shoots five fire balls at Aang as he quickly hears it and bends backwards and avoids the attack.

"Good job twinkle toes. Viaualise then attack." Toph says as she punches the boulder that was thrown at her back at Aang as he sinks into the ground to avoid it. However as he does this, the boulder passes him and hits Katara in the chest as she falls to the ground. She stands up and looks at Toph upset. "Maybe you should take your own advice Toph!" She says.

Aang sticks his head out as he is confused by this as he jumps out of the ground. "What the matter? Can't handle some dirt madam fussybridges." Toph insults Katara. Katara's eye twitches as she gets angry and summons a wave behind herself. It passes through her and Aang, without getting them wet, while when it comes to Toph it splashes on her as she gets wet and annoyed.

"Oww, did I splash you mud slug?" Katara says to her. Mizu looks at the scene. "Uh-oh." She says feeling like this can only go badly." She says. Katara and Toph ride their element slides as they slam into each other and are send flying in one direction. Aang looks in the direction that they were in confusion. "Are we taking a break?" He asks.

Meanwhile Sokka is hiding behind a pillar as he grins. He moves away from it and starts running towards Aang. "Aaah sneak attack!" He yells with his arm over his head. He is then slammed in the face by a pillar that appears in front of him as he falls to the ground. "Aang takes off his blind fold as he looks at Sokka. "Sokka sneaks attacks don't work if you yell it out loud." Aang says.

He suddenly feels a strange presense and he looks up. His eyes widen as he sees Zian towards him as he gets ready to strike him. Aang quickly shift away as Zian lands on the ground hard as he slams his fist on the ground creating a small crater around it while holding his lute in the other hand. Aang smiles afterwards. "Now that is a sneak attack." He says as Zian stands up and smiles at Aang. "Almost got you." He says.

They turn to see Katara and Toph are fighting in a mud puddle as they see them sort it out. "Should we try to stop them?" Mizu asks the others. Zian crosses his arms as he watches the fight. "Yeeeeeeah, I don't really incline to stop something that could possibly lead me to an early funeral." He says as Mizu just rolls her eyes.

Aang walk to the edge of the mud puddle. "Uh guys, I thought we were supposed to be training me?" Aang says as this causes the girls to stop. They are both covered in mud as their clothes are completely dirty. Katara wipes her faces as she looks at Aang. "Very well, pupil. I feel that we had enough training for today." She says as she walks away.

"While Katara goes and cleans up." Toph says as she uses her bending to remove the mud all over her clothes and turns to the others with a smile. "Let's go have some fun." She says. Sokka and Aang immediately get excited. Zian chuckles as he follows them as they head into the town that is near their camp.

The entire city is rested on a mountain while messenger hawks fly over it delivering or sending messages. Everyone, except for Katara, walk through the streets as they take in their surroundings. Sokka hears the sound of the messenger hawks as he looks up and sees them flying over the city. "Look at all those messenger hawks." He says as they pass the place where all if the messenger hawks go to either rest or deliver the messages.

Sokka looks at them all with interest. "You know I've been thinking about getting one for myself. That way I don't have to talk to anyone. I can just send them messages." He says. Toph smirks. "I got to say. I like the idea of not talking to you." She says as Sokka glares at her. "So guys, what are we going to get with our last silver piece?" Aang asks holding out one silver.

Zian grins. "Maybe a bowl of water, some bread." Zian says. "Or maybe more money." Toph says as Zian looks at her confused. "Come again?" He says not quite following her. "Over there." Toph says pointing down the street. They look and see there is an alley where they see a few people standing around a table. The person sitting behind the table is placing three cups on the table upside down and he places a pebble inside and he moves them around in quick motion. The person opposite of the dealer looks at the cups and tries to guess which of the cups has the pebbles and the dealer picks up the cup to see if the person is right.

The group look at the scene with curiosity. "This is where you can see people are at a disadvantage. Everyone guesses wrong because the dealer moves the rock at the last minute, but I can feel with my earthbending." She says as they head down to the location. "You know I once had a stroke of bad luck once when I tried one of these games. Nearly lost all of my money due to it." Zian says. Mizu looks at him curiously. "Nearly? How did you manage to get it back?" She asks him.

Zian grins. "Well after some time of playing the game I was unable to get a single guess right even though I was sure of it. After a while I clearly knew I was being cheated." He says. "What did you do?" Mizu asks him. Zian smirks. "Let's just say I made the dealer see some stars before quickly taking my money ,plus some of the money from the "lost" contenders, and running as fast as I can." He says as they walk down to the alleyway. They stand behind a man who is playing the game. He picks a cup and the dealer pulls it up and the pebble is not there. The man is shocked by this as he starts to cry while his friend takes him away.

The group stand there watching and the man looks at them with interest. "You there." He says speaking to Toph as the group looks at him. "Wanna play a friendly game?" The dealer asks. "How could I possibly play? I'm blind." She says pretending (sort of) to lie like she really can't see.

"You don't have to see to be lucky." He says as he gestures her to sit down. Toph gets down on the ground as she touches everything with her hands to find the table to further (again sort of) deceive them. As she "finds" the table she sits down as she takes out the one silver piece that they have and places it on the table. The dealer smiles as he places the pebble inside the cup. He proceeds to move them around in quick motion. He stops as he waits for Toph to pick one of the cups.

Toph discreetly grins as she picks the cup to her left. The dealer picks the cup and a pebble is underneath it. "Flameo Toph." Aang congratulates her. "Wow fancy guessing. You are amazing at this." The dealer says clearly giving her false compliments. "Would you like to make this game a little more…interesting?" He asks playing with some silver pieces in order to tempt her.

"More interesting? How?" Toph asks acting innocent. "Well you toss in your friend's sword their and your other friends lute, I'll bet forty silver pieces against it and that will make it more interesting." He says holding a bag of said silver pieces in his hand. As soon as the dealer makes an interest in Zian's lute Zian starts to growl at this. After the dealer says that Toph quickly grabs the sword he got from master Piandao as well as take the lute from Zian. "I'll do it for eighty silver pieces." Toph says as Sokka and Zian's mouths drop. " _If she loses this bet then I am going to kill her._ " He says in his mind.

The dealer smiles as he opens the bag and throws in more silver pieces into it. "Eighty silver pieces it." He says confident that he will the lute and the sword. He places the pebble into one of the cups as he begins to move all of them in quick motion as the group and even the crowd watch with anticipation as the cups move.

Aang and Sokka try to keep up with the man's movements but he goes so fast that their eyes just keeping going in circles. After the dealer is done with the movements he looks at Toph with a smug confident attitude. Toph picks the middle cup. "Sorry little lady but…" The dealer says to her until he picks up the cup and is completely surprised when he sees that the cup that Toph chose contained a pebble in it. The dealer looks at the pebble very closely as he is unsure of this.

Toph looks at this happily as she raises her arms in the air. "I won!" She shouts as they all quickly take their stuff plus their winnings and run away. The dealer and the people in the alley all stand there as they try to process what just happened.

* * *

 **Sometime later**

* * *

The group laugh as they walk back to their camp while each of them carries a basket filled with food and other things that they from the money they used. They see Katara is busy with cooking some food until she sees them dropping the baskets next to her. She looks at the baskets and then at the others a bit curious. "Where did you guys get the money to buy all of this stuff?" She asks them.

Aang and Toph are busy eating some apples as Aang sits down. "Toph got us money. She scammed one of those guys in town who moves the cups around all sneaky." He says as Katara looks at Toph with a not very impressed face. "She used her earth bending to win the game. Classic." Sokka says. Katara puts her hands on her hips. "Ahh, so she cheated." She says.

"Hey, I only cheated because he was cheating. I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?" She asks. "Oh I can think of a couple of things." Mizu says. "I'm just saying that we shouldn't make a habit of this." Katara advises them. Toph looks at her curiously. "Why, because it is fun and you hate fun?" She asks.

Katara looks at Toph a bit offended by that statement. "What? I don't hate fun." She says. She then grabs Momo as she takes the flying lemur and places him on her head as she smiles. "See? Fun" She says as Momo slowly slides off her head and fall to the ground. Momo screeches at her before running in a direction.

Zian shakes his head. "Katara, please don't do that ever again." He says. Aang stands up as he looks at Katara as he takes off his headband. "Katara, I'll personally make you an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams." He says bowing to her. This gives Katara a bit of relief. Mizu leans close to Zian. "I bet you five silver pieces that they will make this a habit." She whispers to him. Zian smirks at this. "You're on." He says.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

* * *

"Called it!" Mizu shouts as Zian groans and gives the five silver pieces. Sokka, Toph and Aang arrive back to the camp carrying bags filled with money and baskets filled food and all sorts of stuff. Katara walks over to them as she looks at them nervously. "Guys I think these scams have gone far enough. If we keep doing this then something bad is going to happen." She says as Toph groans in irritation. "Can you for once just stop being such a sourpuss and just lighten up?" Toph asks as she throws a silver piece into Katara's hand.

Katara looks at Toph also annoyed. "Oh I'm sorry. You think I should be more like you? Like some wild child?" She says throwing the silver piece back at her. The silver piece lands on the ground as Sokka quickly takes it. "Yeah, maybe. Maybe then you will see how great we have. I mean look at us. We're travelling around the world, making easy money with no parents to tell us what to do." Toph says as this sparks a realization for Katara.

"Ah I see. You're acting like this because of your parents." She says. "Whatever." Toph responds to her. "They were controlling over you so you ran away and now you are acting like your parents don't exist. You act like you hate them but you don't. You just feel guilty." She says. "I do hate them." Toph says looking away from her. "I don't think so. I think you miss them but you just don't want to deal with that. So instead you act like this crazy person." She says.

This gets Toph upset as she stands up and looks at Katara. "Look, I ran away to help Aang." She argues. "You know what? It doesn't matter. These scams put us all at risk and we don't need that. We already got some third eye freak after us.

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"Aang, I know swimming is fun and all but do you really think you should be exposing yourself like that? Cover up." Toph says to Aang who is floating on the water that is in a crater. Aang looks at her. "What? I'm wearing trunks." He says. "I know it's your tattoos I'm worried about. What if someone sees us?" She says. Mizu grins at her. "Come on Toph lighten up. We've been on the run and have been working our butts off to stay hidden. Just give these few minutes to just rest and not worry about being in disguise." Mizu says lying on a rock and getting a tan.

"CONNABALL!" They hear Zian scream as he jumps from the top of the crater as he comes down fast in a ball formation as he lands in the water and splashes water around him. Katara looks at Toph. "Mizu is right Toph. Besides, there are walls all around us. It's completely safe." She says. Zian pops out of the water as he shoots water out of his mouth like a fountain.

"She's right. What could possibly go wrong?" Mizu asks.

* * *

 **Later at night time**

* * *

The darkness flows over the crater as the group sleep. Everything seems quiet and peaceful. Well almost. Zian's eyes suddenly shoot open as he jolts up in a sitting position. "Guys somethings wrong." He says in a worried tone. Mizu groans awake. "What's wrong Zian?" She asks him. "I can hear the sound of metal stomping against dirt for some reason." He says. Toph wakes up as she feels something. "Guys you're all gonna think I'm crazy but it feels like a metal man is coming." She says.

A light shines into Aang's eyes as he rubs it and looks up at the top of the crater. What they see surprises them. A man stand on the top of the crater. He has a metal right hand with metal shoes and is wearing a sleeveless shirt. He is bald and has a rough beard and moustache but what surprises them the most is that on his forehead is a painted third as if it is to be a real one.

He stands there doing nothing as this makes everyone feel uneasy. Then suddenly he takes a deep breath. Aang and Zian rush forward as they quickly create and earth wall in front of them. The man exhales as a beam of wind goes out of his third eye and as it soon as it touches the wall it explodes destroying the wall easily and creating a huge force with knocks everyone back.

Zian gets back on his feet and bend a big boulder as he throws it at the man. Before the boulder can even reach the attacker it explodes from the same attack the man used. Katara thinks fast as she uses the water from the lake to create a fog cover for them as they hide. "This is crazy. How can we beat a guy who blows things up with his mind?" Sokka asks. "We can't." Aang says as he looks at the others. "You guys jump on Appa. I'll try to distract him." Aang says as he diverts the man's attention.

After some time they fly over a filled with pillars where they see a large amount of explosions. Aang lands on the saddle as they fly away from the man. "I'm ok." He says. "Well that was random." Toph says. "I don't think so. I get the feeling he knows who we are." She says. Zian falls on his back as he groans. "Well then it seems like we need to make sure that we are careful from now on." He says.

* * *

 **End of flashback**

* * *

"Oh that guy. Yeah he's a real jerk." Zian says. "Speaking of the third eye freak I think I've come up with a name for him. What do you think of…Sparky sparky boom man?" Sokka says. Mizu rolls her eyes. "Sokka take this seriously." She says. "How about tri-beam man? Because his three eyes are in the shape of a triangle and he shoots a beam like thing." Zian says smiling. "Zian!" Mizu exclaims. Zian grins at her.

"We have enough money, you need to stop this!" Katara says to Toph. Toph gets angry at this. "I'll stop when I want to stop, not when you tell me." Toph says to her a she takes the bag of money and marches off as she sits down and creates an earth tent. Everyone just look at this all as they process this. "Speaking of money, I'm off to go spend some." Sokka says as he takes his bag of money and walk back to the town.

After some time of arguing and crazy fighting with Katara and Toph. Katara and Toph walk to each other and they look regretfully at one another. "Hi Toph. Uhm I want to…" Katara says before Toph stops her. "Katara stop, you don't need to apologise I was the one being stupid. These scams are out of control and I'm done with it." She says being serious. Katara grins at this. "Actually I wasn't going to apologise. I was going to say I want to pull a scam with you." She says. Both Sokka and Aang are in complete shock by this as they stand there with their mouths hung open. "Wow, did not see that one coming." Zian and Mizu say in unison as Zian looks at her. "Stop it." He says.

Toph looks at her taken back. "What? You wanna pull a scam?" She asks. Katara smirks. "Not just any scam. The ultimate scam." She says. This surprises and shocks Aang and Sokka so much that they fall back and faint. Katara places her arm over Toph's shoulder. "Just me and you. You in?" She asks her. Toph smiles with delight. "You know I'm in. so what's this idea of yours." She asks as they both walk away to make their plan. Zian crosses his arms as he watches them walk. "This is going to go wrong very quickly." He says as Mizu nods. "Definitely" she says.

* * *

 **Sometime later**

* * *

Aang paces back and forth with a seemingly worried look on his face. "Do you think this scam of theirs should be taking this long?" Aang asks. "Eh I'm sure they are fine, though I have to admit that I am a bit worried about them." Zian says a little laxed. Sokka looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "That's a first coming from you." He says as Zian waves it off. "But I'm also a little worried. We better check it out." He says as he stands up and looks at Momo and his pet hawk. "You two better behave. Appa's in charge." He says as they walk to town. AS they reach town they all start to het an eerie feeling.

They walk to the centre of town where there is a metal statue of the fire lord blowing fire out of his hands and mouth. They see that whole entire village is completely empty with not a single person insight. Everything is quiet and because of this makes Zian feel uneasy. "Where do you think they are?" Sokka asks. "Where do you think anyone is?" Aang asks. They come to the statue as they walk pass it. Suddenly Zian hears something breathe. "Uh-oh" He says as he immediately knows who it is.

"Move!" He says as he quickly shoves Mizu, Aang and Sokka behind the statue. As he does so an explosion appears next to them as it just barely misses them. Aang peers his head out of the pedestal of the statue as he looks at the rooftops and sees that it is their attacker from the beach.

"Sparky sparky boom man!" Aangh exclaims. Sokka peaks his head out as he rubs it. "You know I'm starting to think that man doesn't quite fit." He says. Zian peaks his head as well as Mizu. "Tri-beam man is still an option you know." He says. "Not the time for that Zian." Mizu says.

Their attacker jumps off the roof as he lands on the ground. He then breathes in as he exhales and shoots another blast form his eye and shoots it at them. The others quickly move away as the blast hits the statue. Zian falls to the ground panting. "That was too close!" He shouts.

The attacker comes up close to him as Zian looks at him scared. The man inhales but before he can exhale he is shot at from behind with fire. He turns around to see that it is Mizu who did it. Mizu looks at him as her eyes widen. "Oh boy." She says. The man gets angry as he inhales. Before he can he exhale he suddenly feels his leg being grabbed as he looks down to see Zian. "Don't. You. Dare." He says seriously as he yanks the man's leg and throws him against a nearby building.

Zian runs over to Mizu. She gives him a smirk. "I guess we're even again." She says as he nods. Sokka, Toph, Aang and Katara appear as they run to them. "We got to get out of here." Katara says. "You don't have to tell us twice." Zian says as they run for it.

As they run Sokka thinks of something. "Hey I got it, the perfect name for that guy. How about Combustion man?" Sokka asks while they run. "Good job Sokka now let's get out of here before combustion man catches us." Toph says as they turn right. "See? It fits so well." He says. "I still wanted the guy to be named tri-beam man." He says sounding disappointed. "No one liked it any way Zian." Mizu says. Zian nods at her statement. "I guess you're right. It did sound kind of stupid." He says as they come to the camp, climb on Appa and fly away from this place.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

* * *

As the night moon comes up over the world Appa lands near a mountain pass as he lays down and rests. Sokka stretches his arms with Hawky on one of them as he yawns. "I'm exhausted. Hawky how about you buddy?" He asks as the hawk screeches in responds. Sokka smiles as he pets the bird. "Yeah, you're such a lazy little bird." He says as he climbs out of the saddle.

Katara starts to climb out of the saddle. "Hey Katara." Toph says stopping Katara where she is as turns to Toph. "What is it Toph?" She asks. Toph takes out a piece of paper. "I need you to write somethings down for me. I want to send a letter to my parents." She says. This makes Katara smile as she nods. "I'll be happy to help." She says and starts to write down for Toph.

After a few moments Katara rolls up the paper as she places it in the container on Hawky's back. The bird flies up as it flies away to the destination it was sent. Sokka looks around the camp as he is a bit confused. "Hey, where'd Hawky go?" He asks. Zian grins as he sits on top of the mountain pass and looks up at the stars with a smile.

* * *

Well that's the end of this chapter sorry if it is so short but oh well. As always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	5. Chapter 5: The Terrifying Puppetmaster

NOTE: This is an update to the chapter which I had rewritten due to me not being happy with the ending and me feeling that yu guys deserve more than some half assed rushed one. So here you go

The next chapter is out. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 5: The Terrifying Puppetmaster

* * *

Night falls upon the woods as the group huddle around a campfire telling each other scary stories. "Suddenly they heard something down the hall in the dark. Oooooooh. It came into the torch light. And they knew that the blade of wingfeld was haunted! AAAAAAAAAAGH!" Sokka says making scary noises. Unfortunately no one was affected or even trembling at this as they just sit there unfazed. "I think I liked the man with the hand for a sword better." Aang comments as Sokka sits down a bit disappointed. "Water tribe slumber must stink." Toph says.

"No wait I got one and this is a true southern water tribe story." Katara says. "This one of "those a friend of mines cousin knew some guy that this happen to" stories?" Sokka asks. Katara shakes her head. "No, it happened to mom." She says as this peak both of Sokka's and Zian's curiosity. "Ooooooo, this might good." Zian says lying against a log.

"One winter when mom was a girl a snowstorm buried the entire village for weeks. A month later mom realised that she hadn't seen her friend Mimi since the storm. So mom and some others went to go check on Mimi's family. When they got there no one was home…just a fire flickering in the fireplace. While the men went out to search mom stayed in the house. When she was alone she heard a voice." Katara looks at them all. "It's so cold and I can't get warm." She says in a little girl's voice.

"Mom turned and saw Mimi standing by the fire. She was blue like she was frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but when everyone came back. She was gone." Katara tells as Sokka hides behind a log, Aang covers his face with Momo's ears, Mizu hides behind Zian as he and Toph are the only ones not frightened. "Where'd she go?" Sokka asks Katara. Katara continues to stare at the campfire. "No one knows. Mimi's house stands empty to this day, but sometimes people see smoke coming out from the chimney like little Mimi is still trying to get warm." Katara finishes as the whole seen and the quietness makes her story all the more creepy.

Silence and eeriness fills the forest as they look at the campfire. Toph and Zian suddenly flinch as something brings their attention. "Wait guys did you hear that?" She asks. Aang, Sokka, Katara and Mizu huddle together as they are a bit scared now by Toph's statement. "I can hear people under the mountain and they are screaming." She says. "Phh nice try." Sokka says not believing her. Zian stands up as he looks at the forest. "No I'm serious I can hear something." She says. Zian nods. "She's right, I can hear it two." He says. "You two are probably just jumpy from the ghost stories." Katara says. Zian grins as he looks at her. "Please it'll take more than that to scare me." He says sounding confident.

After a few moments everything becomes silent. "Now I don't hear it anymore." Zian says. "It just stopped." Toph says. "Ok now I'm getting scared." Aang says. Zian smiles. "I'm not." He says full of himself. "Hello children." They hear a woman's voice. The sudden hearing causes everyone (even Zian) to scream in fear as they all huddle together as they look in the direction of where the voice came from.

They see an old woman move out of the shadows and into the campfire as she looks at them with a smile. "Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama." The old woman says in a very friendly manner. "You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back for some spice tea and warm beds?" She says making it so tempting. Sokka rubs the back of his head as he gives a weak smile. "Yes please." He says. Hama smiles as she turns around and walks as the group follows her.

They arrive at Hama's house as they see it is a medium sized house with enough space and is well decorated. As they enter the house Hama allows them to sit at a table where she gives them lovely teacups as she pours some hot tea into them. "You have a lovely inn. Thanks for letting us stay here for tonight. You have a lovely inn." Katara says to her. Hama looks at her with a smile. "Aren't you sweet?" She says as she sits at the end chair as she looks a bit worried.

"You know you should be careful, people have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in." She says as everyone looks at her confused. "What do you mean by disappearing?" Sokka asks her not quite following. Hama takes a sip of her tea as she puts it down at look at it still with the same worried look. "When the moon turns full, people walk into the woods…and they don't come out." She says sounding spooky and mysterious. She then stands up with a smile as she holds the kettle.

She looks at the group and sees that they are wide eyed by this news and are a bit worried. "Don't worry you'll all be completely safe here." She assures them. Sokka grins as he lies back on his chair. "We don't need to worry. Even if these people disappear on a full moon we don't need to worry because if the moon does turn full we have Zian." Sokka says so sure of himself. We then receives a hard slap on the back of the head as he turns to look to see that it was Zian who did it and he is glaring at him. "Shut up." Zian mumbles to him.

Luckily Hama doesn't notice this as she smiles at them all again. "Why don't I show you to your rooms and you can get a good night's rest." She says. The group nods as they follow Hama to their rooms. Everyone gets their own separate rooms as they go into them and prepare to retire for the night. Everyone is fast asleep, well almost everyone. Zian lies in his bed as he has his hands behind his head while he looks up at the ceiling.

"You should be careful of that woman, she is dangerous." Zian hears someone say as he looks to the source of the voice and see that it is Tui sitting on of the night stands. Zian looks back at the ceiling. "Been a while since you pooped up and I don't know what you are talking about. She maybe from the fire nation but I don't think she is that dangerous." He says. Tui sighs. "All I'm saying is that you should be careful near her." He says as he has a smile on his face. "So tell me…what are you and lovely fire bending girl to each other?" He says grinning.

Zian looks to him a bit confused by this. "What do you mean by that?" He asks the moon spirit. "Well are you friends or…" He says when he is stopped by Zian who instantly understands what he is talking about. He looks at the spirit. "No no no no no on and no. We are friends and that's it." He says wanting this conversation to end. Tui just smiles as he walks around the room. "I saw how you two were looking at eachother, but if you say that she is just a friend then she is just a friend." Tui says as he looks at Zian seriously.

"But remember what I said about the old lady. Be careful around her she is keeping a secret." He says as he walks and he starts to fade until he is completely gone. Zian rolls his eyes in the direction Tui disappears. "Whatever old man." He says as he covers himself with the blankets and goes to sleep.

* * *

 **The next morning**

* * *

The sunrises and the birds are chirping and Zian lying on the floor with the blankets still asleep. "Wakey wakey." He hears someone say to him while the person is gently kicking them on the side of the head. His eyes flicker as they slowly start to open. He looks up and sees Mizu's face hanging over him with a smile. "Rise and shine wolfy we're going shopping." Mizu says sounding delighted at saying that. Zian groans as he tosses over to the side. "Five more minutes." He says closing his eyes and going back to sleep. Mizu crosses her arms and scowls at him. "Oh no you don't." She says as she grabs the blanket and starts to pull on it.

Zian pulls on the blanket as he tries to resist her efforts. Due to his strength however he pulls a little too hard as this causes Mizu to fly forward as she falls on the blanket and she rolls in it. This rolling makes the blanket to roll them up like a scroll as they are stuck together facing each other and close together. "Oops." Is all Zian can say as he gives her a weak smile. Mizu scowls at him. "You should have gotten up when I told you." She says as she looks at their situation and looks at Zian. She can't help but chuckle as they try to get out of this predicament.

After sometime they both finally manage to get out of their situation as Mizu leaves Zian to get ready for the day. They walk out of the inn and towards the market place where they see a number of stands and people all buying what they need. Katara is walking next to Hama as she helps with Hama in buying the ingredients that they need for food. Sokka walks behind them with a bored face as he and the others carry a lot of the groceries that Hama is buying, which is not surprising seeing as she runs an inn.

Hama pays a man for some food as she gives him a smile as he returns the friendliness with smile and a wave as they move on. Katara looks back at the man. "That Mr. Yao seems to have a thing for you. Maybe we should go and see if he'll give us some free komodo sausages." Katara suggests. Hama looks at her seriously. "You would have me use my feminine charms to take advantage of that old man?" She says. Her mood unexpectedly changes as she looks at Katara with a smile. "I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly." She says with delight.

As they walk Zian suddenly hears a conversation between two people. "You won't have any ash bananas till next week?" One of them says. "Well I have to send the boy to hingya to get them and it's a two day trip." The merchant says. He realizes something as he rubs the back of his head. "Oh right, tomorrow's the full moon." He says as the merchant leans on his stand. "Exactly, I can't lose another delivery boy in the woods." He says as Sokka, Aang, Mizu, Toph and Zian walk past them.

"People disappearing in the woods? Weird stuff happening during full moons? This just reeks of spirit world shenanigans." Sokka says becoming a little suspicious about all of this. "It is not that. The spirits aren't involved." Tui says to Zian who looks at him annoyed. "Shut up." He says. Mizu hears this as she looks at him. "Come again Zian?" She asks as Zian looks at her. "Nothing." He says.

"I bet if we take a walk around town we'll find out what these people did to the environment to make the spirits mad." Aang says. "And then you can clear out this whole mystery lickety-split Avatar style." Sokka says as Aang smiles. "Helping people, that's what I do." Aang says in a full of himself attitude. They stop as Hama looks at them. "Why don't you take those back to the Inn? I just have to run a couple more errands. I'll be back in a little while." She says.

Sokka looks around the town suspicious like. "This is a mysterious little town you have here." He says looks Hama right in the eyes. Hama looks at him still smiling. "Mysterious town…for mysterious children." She says in a suspicious manner before turning around and heading to where she needs to go. Zian shivers as she leaves. Mizu notices this and looks at him. "Is something wrong Zian?" She asks him. He looks down at the ground very confused. "I just feel like I have a really bad feeling." He says. "Okay." Mizu says as they all start walking back to the inn.

"That Hama seems a little strange. Like she knows something…or she's hiding something." Sokka says as he places the groceries on the table in the kitchen. Katara places her groceries on the table. "That's ridiculous, she's a nice woman who took us in and gave us a place to stay. She kind of reminds me of gran gran." She says.

"But what did she mean by that comment "mysterious children"?" Sokka asks as he ponders on it. Katara rolls her eyes. "Gee I don't know, maybe because she found six strange kids camping in the woods at night. Isn't that a little mysterious?" She asks.

"Either way we just have to be careful while we are here." Zian says. Katara looks at him surprised and disbelieved. "Don't tell me you are also thinking she is bad news." Mizu says. Zian shakes his head. "I'm not saying she is someone we should be careful of but we have to remember. One: we are in fire nation territory disguised as fire nation civilians. Two: If they find out we are not fire nation then not only will that compromise the invasion but also land us into some serious trouble. And three: people are disappearing in the woods at night when the moon is full so that would mean either this is the spirits work…" "Which it is not." Tui says as only Zian can hear it. "Or it would mean that someone is kidnapping the people for ransom, revenge or whatever reason." Zian finishes.

Katara looks at him curiously. "But you can't possibly think it is the lady." Aang says to him. Zian raises his hands in defence. "I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is that while we are here we should stay vigilant and be careful with anyone we come across with or talk. In short, we should be very careful." He says.

Sokka heads in a direction as he exits the kitchen. "I'm going to take a look around." He says. Zian face palms. "What did I just say?!" He says as Sokka walks up some stairs. The others follow him while Katara looks at him a bit or very annoyed. "Sokka, what are you doing?! You can't just snoop around in someone's house!" She says. "It will be fine." Sokka assures her as he looks around the hall. He opens the doors to the rooms as he looks into and then closes them as he walks to the next one. "Sokka you're going to get us all in trouble and this is just plain rude." Katara says. "Zian said we should be careful, so I'm being careful." He says. Zian shakes his head. "I said we should be careful of trouble, not go around and snooping for it." He says.

Sokka stops as he comes to a wall closet as he grabs the handles. "And besides, I'm not finished yet." He says as he pulls on the handles. He has some difficulty however as he is trying to get the closet to open as he pulls harder. "Nngh, Come on." He groans as he gives one hard pull and the closet opens. What comes out scares Sokka as he flinches back and he quickly takes out his sword and points it at what scared them. What it is however calms them down but still creeps them out. Puppets with string come out of the closet as they don't completely fall out due to the strings holding them in place.

"Ok that's a bit creepy." Aang says feeling a little uncomfortable by this. Katara walks to the closet as she pushes the puppets back and closes the doors. "So she's got a hobby. There's nothing creepy about that." She says. She looks at her brother who continues with his investigation. "Sokka you looked enough. Hama will be back soon." She says as she is starting to get angry at him.

Sokka goes up some stairs as he comes to the attic. He comes to a door as he starts to pull on it as it doesn't open. "Just an ordinary puppet loving inn keeper, huh? Then why does she have a locked door up here." He asks her as Katara and the others also come up. "Probably to keep people like you from snooping through her stuff." She says. "We'll see." Sokka says as he looks through a key hole.

He sees something that peaks his interest. "It's empty except for a little chest." He says. Toph gasps. "Maybe it's treasure." She says excited as everyone but Sokka (who smiles) gives her a deadpan face. "Seriously?" Zian says. Sokka takes out his sword as he starts to fiddle with the lock. "Sokka, what are you doing? You're breaking into a private room." Katara says becoming very worried by Sokka's antics.

Sokka looks at her. "I have to see what's in there." He says too stubborn to give up now. Sokka succeeds in getting it open as he walks into the room and the others follow. "We shouldn't be doing this." Aang says. Sokka picks up the small chest as he tries to open it but its closed shut. "Maybe there's a key here somewhere." Sokka says looking at the room for a key. "Oh hand it over." Toph says as Sokka gives her the chest. Toph takes the earth wrist band as she bends it into a key. She then proceeds to pick the lock.

"Aren't you going to see what's inside?" Mizu asks Zian who leans against the wall with his arms crossed. "Eh, I don't really care and it doesn't peak my interest." He says. "Oh." Mizu says as they both watch Toph pick the lock. "Come on come on." Sokka says hurrying Toph. "This isn't as easy as it looks." She says while Katara looks over her shoulder looking extremely nervous. "Toph I don't know about this." Aang says.

"This is crazy. I'm leaving." Katara says as Sokka looks at her. "Suit yourself. Do it Toph." He says while Katara turns around and leaves. As soon as they all hear the click of the lock. "Okay I lied I do care and this does peak my interest." Zian says fast as they all (yes even Katara) squeeze their faces against each other as their curiosity is through the roof.

"I'll tell you what's in the box." They all suddenly hear Hama's voice as they scream in fear before turning around while Sokka hold the chest behind him and facing Hama, who is standing by the door looking at them. Hama walks to the them as the group's (except for Toph) faces are filled with fear before changing into shame and regret. Sokka takes the chest out as he hands it to Hama with his head hung low.

Hama opens the box as she slowly takes out what's inside it. Tension fills the room as the group (except for Toph) nervously and anxiously wait to see the secret. Sokka looks at the chest with wanting to see it so badly. Their eyes follows Hama's hand as it moves up from the chests lid and they are filled with the widest of eyes as the hands ascends…

…

…

…

"An old comb?" Sokka says looking very disappointed at the site. Hama smiles as she is holding a blue and white comb in her hands. Mizu's jaw drops while Zian looks at the comb. "Huh, anticlimactic." He says.

"It's my greatest treasure. It's the last thing I own from growing up in the southern water tribe." She says revealing the combs purpose as Sokka and Katara's eyes widen and their jaws drop. Mizu looks at the moment quite surprised. "Wow, what a twist." She says.

Everyone is shocked by this discovery as they all (EXCEPT FOR TOPH) look at Hama with jaws hung low. "You're from the southern water tribe?" Katara asks. Hama smiles at her. "Just like you." She says as Katara is even more shocked as she says this. "How did you know?" She asks her. "I read you talking around your campfire." Hama says. "Yeah, we should really dump it down when we are talking about that kind of stuff." Mizu says as Zian nods.

"But why didn't you tell us?" Sokka asks. "I wanted to surprise you. I bought all this food today so that I can fix you a big water tribe dinner. Of course I can't get all the ingrediants here but ocean cumquats are a lot like sea prunes if you stew them long enough." She says happily. As Aang hears this he sticks his tongue in disgust as he shakes his head at the thought. "Great." He says with little interest in it.

"I knew I felt a bond with you right away." Katara says happily. "And I knew you were keeping a secret so I guess were both right." Sokka gloats as Katara punches him hard on his arm. He rubs it as he looks at Hama. "But I'm sorry we were sneaking around." He says. Hama smiles at him. "Apologise accepted. Now let's get cooking." She says as Sokka and Katara follow her.

* * *

 **A couple of hours later**

* * *

Hama places a bowl of soup as they sit around the table Aang looks at the weird sea weed ball like stuff that's in a bowl on the table as he leans to Toph. "I'd stay away from the sea prunes." He whispers to her. "I thought they were ocean cumquats." She says. "Close enough." Aang says.

"Who wants five flavour soup?" Hama asks as the whole group raises their hands. Hama proceeds to move her hand as she causes the soup to levitate before widening her hand making the soup split and fly into all of their bowls. Everyone is shocked by this as they look at the soup go into their bowls.

"You're a waterbender! I've never met another waterbender from our tribe." Katara says excited by this. Hama however is sad by this. "That's because the fire nation wiped them all out. I was the last one." She says with great sadness. Zian crosses his arms as he grins. "Man, when the war is over and the fire nation loses they are going to a ginormous ear full of all this for years to come." Zian says as Mizu quiets him. "So how did you end up out here?" Sokka asks Hama. Hama looks down as she is even more saddened. "I was stolen from my home." She says.

"It was over sixty years ago when the raids started. They just again and again, each time rounding up our water benders and taking them captive. We did our best to hold them off but our numbers dwindled as the raids continued. Finally I too was captured. I was led away in chains. The last water bender of the southern water tribe." She says as Katara comes over to her and comforts her. "They put us in terrible prisons here in the fire nation. I was the only one who managed to escape." She says.

"How did you get away? And why did you s" Sokka asks her. Hama just looks down at the table. "I'm sorry…it's too painful to talk about anymore." She says as Katara comforts her. "We completely understand. We lost our mother in a raid." She says. "Oh you poor things." She says feeling remorse.

Katara smiles. "I can't tell what it means to feel, it's an honour. You're a hero." She says as this makes Hama smile. "I never thought I would meet another southern water bender. I would like to teach you what I know so that you can carry on the southern tradition when I'm gone." She says. This causes Katara to light up with joy. "Yes! Yes of course! To learn about my heritage would mean everything to me." She says as she bows to Hama.

* * *

 **The next day**

* * *

As the sunrises Katara and Hama are off into the fields away from prying eyes and from any sort of fire nation civilians that can tell on them as Hama takes Katara to teach her everything she knows.

While they are off doing that everyone else is doing their own thing. Zian says lying under a tree as he is resting in the cool shade. "You know she is not telling the whole truth." Tui says to him as he is sitting next to him. Zian doesn't even bother to look at the spirit as he just stares up at the sky. "Are you still suspicious about her? She told about what she was being so secretive and she told us her story and we are all fine about it." He says.

Tui shakes his head. "But that's the point. Her story, it doesn't make any sense." He says. "Why would she refuse to tell you all about how she escaped and why she stays in the fire nation. He says. "Like she said, it's too painful for her to talk about it." He says as Tui waves that off. "Oh don't give me that nonsense. If it is too painful to talk about then she must have done something bad to keep it a secret from you." He says.

Zian looks at him. "Why are you being such a jerk?" He asks him. "I'm not being a jerk I'm just being realistic." He says. Zian stands up as he walks away. "I'm going to take a nap." He says walking to Hama's house.

* * *

 **Later at night time**

* * *

As the night sky falls over the town everyone is out of the house. Katara and Hama are out so that Hama can teach Katara some new water bending moves and Sokka, Toph and Aang are out. Only Mizu and Zian are left at the house as they sit next to the fire place. Zian lays on his back soaking in the warmness while Mizu looks at bit worried. Zian looks at her confused. "Are you okay Mizu?" He asks her as Mizu stares at the fire place.

"Do you believe that Hama is responsible for all of these disappearances?" She asks. Zian groans. "Not you too." He says as she looks him confused. "What?" She asks him not quite following. Zian sighs. "Nevermind. Do you honestly still think that Hama is dangerous?" He asks. "At least she's got the right mind set." Tui says to Zian while sitting on a chair. Zian growls as he looks at Mizu.

Mizu sighs. "I know that she told us the truth and that she is really a water bender. But I still think something is up like she is still keeping something from us. Do you know what doesn't make sense?" She asks. Zian responds by shaking his head. "No" He says. "It's her story. I mean she hasn't told us how she escaped." Mizu says. Tui gives Zian a sly smile as Zian glares at him before looking back at Mizu.

"Don't you think you are being a little paranoid?" He asks her. She shakes her head roughly. "No, I want to know how she escaped and I want to figure it out now." She says as she stands up. "Where are you going?" He asks her. She keeps on walking to the bedrooms. "I'm going to look for some answers." She says. Zian rolls his eyes as he follows her. "You know, she's almost as stubborn as you are." Tui says smiling. Zian doesn't look back. "Shut up spirit." He says as he follows her.

They arrive to the bedroom area as Mizu walks to the door that leads to Hama's room. Mizu grabs the handle of the door as she pulls on it as she tries to get it open. Zian looks at her. "What are you doing now?" He asks. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to get this dang door open." She says as she tucks on the door as hard as she can. She looks at Zian. "Can you please open this door?" She asks him. Zian rolls his eyes. "No, we're breaking into someone's private chambers and it's wrong.

Mizu stops pulling the door as she looks at him. "Please, pretty please." She says giving him the puppy dog eyes. Zian looks away as Mizu just moves into his view. He tries to avoid her gaze. He looks at her and he struggles to resist. "No, must…resist…cuteness." He says as he can't take it anymore. He sighs as he looks at her. "Alright, I'll do it." He says as he gives in. "Yay!" Mizu cheers as she steps aside and lets him do his thing. Zian places his palm on the door. He retracts his arm as he gets ready for something. He then thrust his arm forward as he slams the door and it breaks into pieces. Mizu is shocked by this as she can't help but stare. "I said just open the door, not break it!" She yells. Zian just shrugs. "I don't really see a difference." He says. Mizu rolls her eyes as she walks past him and into the room. Tui stands next to Zian as he grins. Zian looks at him. "What are you smiling at?" He says not really in the mood as he follows Mizu into the room. Tui shrugs as he follows the two.

As they enter the room they are greeted by nothing more than just an average room. Zian stands where he is as he looks at the room. "I don't really see anything that would classify Hama as a kidnapper so we might as well go." He says. "You already broke her door and didn't even bother to look thoroughly, so stop complaining and search for something that would give us some clue." Mizu says as she searches through a chest. Zian groans as he starts searching.

"Nothing, I can't find anything." Mizu says a bit frustrated at this. Zian shrugs. "Well we broke into someone's room and didn't even find anything. So I guess we might as well go." He says. Mizu sighs in disappointment. "I guess you're right." She says as she stands up. Zian smiles as he walks to her. "Hey cheer up, how about I make you happy by making you some tea." He says. Mizu's frown turns into a small smile. "I'd like that." She says. Zian starts walking to her.

"That's the spirit. Now how about we just AAAAGH!" Zian screams as he suddenly loses his balance and falls on top of Mizu. As he shakes his head he looks down at her with a smile. "Hi" He says. Mizu looks at him annoyed. "Get off of me." She says pushing him off. She and Zian get up as they dust themselves off. Mizu looks at Zian. "What was that for?!" She asks him. Zian shrugs. "I didn't do it on purpose, I tripped over something." He says.

Mizu and Zian turn to where he tripped and notices something strange. "Hey look." Mizu says pointing to something. Zian looks at the floor as he goes down and inspects it closely. "It looks like one of these floor boards is loose." He says. He grabs the floor board as he pulls on it. It surprisingly comes loose as he opens it. It reveals to have a hole in it as he opens it. In it is some kind of book as he takes it out. Mizu and Zian look at it and inspect it. "Do you think it could be Hama journal?" Mizu asks. Zian looks at her. "Only one way to find out." He says as he gives the journal to Mizu and she opens it.

Mizu looks at the pages as she reads them. "Those guards would be careful to keep any water away from us. They piped in fry air and had us suspended from the ground. Before giving us any water they would bind our hands and feet so that we can't bend. Any sign any of trouble was met with cruel retribution." She reads. "Yikes, though at this point it doesn't really surprise me." Zian says. "Shh!" Mizu quiets Zian as she continues.

"Yet each month I felt the full moon enriching me with its energy. There had to something I had to do to escape. Then I realize that where there is life, there is water. The rats that scoured across the floor of my cave were nothing more than skins filled with liquid and I passed years developing the skills that would lead to my escape. Bloodbending." Mizu reads as Zian's eyes widen. "Uh-oh." He says.

Mizu continues. "Controlling the water in another body. Enforcing your own will into theirs. The feeling felt so great. Once I had mastered the rats I was ready with the men. One night when the moon was full. I used my new found bending to control one of the guards who were assigned to keep me in here and on that night I walked free for the first time in decades." Mizu finishes.

Silence fills the room as Mizu and Zian just stand speechless. "Wooooo!" I was riiiiiiiiiight, I was riiiiiiight!" Tui shouts happily as he dances. Zian ignores him as he faces Mizu. "You know what this means right?" He asks horrified by all this. Mizu nods. "The screams, the full moon, the disappearances, it was Hama's doing all this time." Mizu says. "That's right. With all this and the full moon tonight we have to stop her. We have to…" Zian says as he pauses realizing something. "Oh no." He says. Mizu looks at him confused. "What? What is it?" She asks him. Zian looks at her. "Katara" He says.

Mizu's eyes widen as she understands what he means by that. "Oh crud, she's with Hama." She says. "Let's go." Zian says as Mizu nods and they rush out of the room. As they run out of the house Mizu realises something. "How are going to find Katara she's in the woods and we don't know where." She says. "Go to Appa and find something that belongs to Katara, anything." Mizu nods as she goes into the shed. Appa sees her as she jumps onto the saddle. She rummages through Katara's bag until. "Yes" She says in triumph as holds the water tribe necklace that Katara has.

She jumps out of the saddle as she runs out of the shack. When she comes out she is greeted by a giant wolf that stares at her. "Right, full moon." She says as she walks over to him. She outstretches her hand as she holds out the necklace. Zian sniffs the necklace as he then sniffs all around him. He howls as he has got a trail and howls. Mizu nods at this as she climbs on top of his back and Zian springs forward running into the forest at high speed.

When they see Hama Zian immediately runs at her at quick speed. He gets ready to pounce on her as he is almost reaches her. When he gets close to her however he suddenly stops in mid-air as his whole body become stiff as he is remained suspended in the air. This sudden stop causes Mizu to fall off as she lands on the ground.

Hama looks at Zian with a sinister smile on her face. "Well look what we have here. a little puppy coming to attack me." She says as Zian growls at her. Mizu looks at Hama angrily. "Let Zian go Hama!" She says. Hama looks at Mizu with the same evil smile. "Ah I see so this mutt is your male earth friend. Well looks like we need to teach this dog some lesson." She says.

She moves her hands in motions as this causes Zian's body to move on its own. "Sit!" Hama shouts as her technique forces Zian to sit like a normal dog. Mizu looks at this horrified that Zian is being to do this. "Stop it!" She shouts. Hama just laughs as she forces Zian to do more. "Now roll over!" She says as she moves her hands and Zian rolls on the ground. "Stop it!" Mizu shouts as she shoots a fireball at Hama.

Hama easily dodges it as she looks at Mizu. "Oh I see so you are a firebender." She says as she gives an evil grin. "Well then since I can't put you in the mountains I guess I'll have to exterminate you." She says as she looks at Zian. "Get rid of this pest." She says. She forces Zian to walk to Mizu who slowly walks back in fear. Not seeing where she is going she trips on a root as she falls on her back. Hama forces Zian to jumps in the air and then lets him land on of Mizu. "Now, finish her!" She shouts as she moves her hands. Zian's mouth opens wide as he slowly moves towards Mizu's throat. Mizu looks terrified for her life. "No Zian, please don't do this." She says. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening." Is what race through Zian's mind as he moves evermore closer to Mizu's throat ready to rip it in half.

…

…

…

"Pathetic." Zian suddenly hears someone say when his eyes drift up and he sees a man, a transparent spirit man at that, stand in front of Zian looking at the scene with a scowl. Zian stops as he looks at the man. "You call yourself a protector, a lycanthropy and the son of Zoren. Yet here you are helpless to do anything but do the will of someone to kill someone you care about. You really are a disgrace." Zian closes his eyes. "Shut up" He says in his mind. "You are arrogant, incompetent." The man continues. "Shut up!" Zian says again tis time louder. "You are nothing!" The man shouts.

This pushes Zian to his frustration as his eyes turn red with anger and he solely gets off of Mizu who looks at him surprised as he stands on his hind legs. Hama is the one not only confused but scared as she watches Zian get up in horror. "But how? My blood bending is supposed to control anyone." She says. Mizu stands up as she grins as Zian looks at Hama and growls. "It's easy Hama. Zian maybe a earth bender but like a water bender when the moon is full he draws power from it and it gives him strength." She says.

This angers Hama as she then smile. "Well then if I can't control him then I guess I'll have to control…" Hama says before getting slammed by Zian who sends her flying. Sokka and Aang along with Toph arrive at the location as Zian sees the civilians with them as he quickly hides.

They pick up Hama as they handcuff her. "You are going to be locked away forever." One of the civilians says as they all walk away with Hama who is distorted. "I have failed. I have failed. I have failed." She says over and over as they take her away.

As soon as they are gone Zian comes out from where he is and walks to them. Mizu looks at Zian with a smile. "You know, despite the fact that I was scared I never doubted that you wouldn't hurt me." She says as Zian waggles his tail and starts licking her.

At some distance two figures watch the scene undetected by anyone. "So do you think he is ready?" One of the figures asks. The other figure, who is the one who angered Zian stands there with a scowl. "After what he accomplished tonight. I believe he will bring greatness." He says as the man and the other figure disappear.

* * *

And that is the chapter done but with a better end. As always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.

P.S I'll be skipping the next chapter, seeing as it's just filler, and going straight onto The Day of Black Sun. Just so you guys know. Bye


	6. Chapter 6: The Day of Black Sun, Part 1

The next chapter is out. Enjoy

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Chapter 6: The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion

* * *

The sun rises over the mountain beach top where the group have situated themselves as this is there rondevu point for the army of that are coming to plan for today's invasion on the fire nation capital.

"Wooooo! Today is the day!" Zian says overjoyed as he springs out of the ground. Mizu looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "You seem a little happy and chirpy today." She says surprised by this. Zian looks at her smiling. "Why wouldn't I. This is the day of the invasion where we are going to strike at the heart of the nation itself and the exact place where we will be able to end this war. So yeah I'm excited." He says jumping all around like a mad mouserabbit.

Meanwhile Sokka reviews the maps for the fire nation capital as he rubs his eye in tiredness. Katara gives him some warm tea. Aang jumps in the air as he goes to the others. "Top of da morning to ya Momo." He says to the lemur, who jumps on his shoulder. Katara looks at him. "Sound like you slept well." She says. Aang smiles to her. "Like a baby mooselion. I'm ready to face the fire lord." He says. Toph grins. "So what's your strategy for taking him down? Gonna get you glow on and hit him with a little Avatar State action?" She asks.

Aang frowns at this. "I can't. When Azula shot me with lighting my seventh chakra was locked, cutting all of my connection with the cosmic energy with the universe." He explains. "You know what I just heard? Blah blah spiritual mumbo jumbo blah blah something about space." Toph says. "Mizu clears her throat. "What he is saying is that shot with lighting on the back means no Avatar State." She says. Mizu then smiles. "But hey, at least we have Zian's cool wolf powers." She says. Zian has a smug look on his face. "Yeah!" He yells felling all pumped up.

Katara sees something on the ocean that has her face look a little worried. On the ocean is a fog that is at sea level. "Oh no, Sokka do you think the fog will delay the invasion?" Katara asks him as he stands up and looks at the fog. He smiles as he looks closer. "No, that is the invasion." He says.

They see about five or six southern water tribe ships heading towards bay as Zian jumps in the air. "Woohoo!" He shouts as he jumps of the cliff and slides towards the bay. Mizu rolls her eyes as they all head down there. As they reach the beach head Zian, Aang and Toph use their earth to rise the earth from the sea bed and onto the sea level so that they can make docks for the ships.

All of the ships weight their anchors as the passengers get off. Katara and Sokka see their father as they run over to him. "You made it dad." Katara says she hugs her Hakoda. "Were you able to locate everyone I told you to find?" Sokka asks as Hakoda nods. "I did." He says as his face turns to worriedness. "Although I'm a bit worried Sokka, some of these men aren't exactly the warrior type." He says.

At that moment two individuals walk off from the ships ramp. Those said individuals are the swamp benders Tho and Due. "Oooh-whee! This place ain't nothing like the swamp. What you reckon that is Tho? Some kind of fire nation exploding trap what eat ya?" Due asks pointing to something in the water that is nothing more than a rock. Due just looks at it confused. "It's just a rock Due." He says. Due grins. "Well I'll be." He says scratching his head. Sokka, Katara and Hakoda just look at the scene with deadpan faces.

"Is it just me or are those fellas a little loose on the leaf hat?" Hakoda asks. "I just wish they would wear pants." Bato says. Due stands there scratching his belly. "Pants are an illusion and so is death." He says as the others just stand there in disbelief, except for Sokka who stands there smiling like an idiot.

A few moments later Katara looks really happy when she's someone that she hasn't seen in a long while. "Haru!" She says as she runs to the young boy who she now sees has grown into a young man as he has a moustache and a goatee. She runs to him as she hugs him. "It's so good to see you." She says.

"Toph this is Haru. When we met him his town was controlled by the fire nation so we had to hide his earth bending." Aang says introducing Toph to Haru. Zian grins as he walks to them. "Let's not forget that you guys also met me cause of that." Zian says as Haru smiles at seeing him. "Hello Zian, it's good to see you again." He says as he bows to Zian. Zian bows back smiling. "Likewise." He says.

"Katara not only inspired me and my son to take back our village, but she also inspired Zian to find hope again." Tyro says as he walks up to the others. "You helped us find our courage Katara. Now we're here to help you." He says to Katara as she blushes. Zian gasps at seeing Tyro as he has a wide smile on his face. He grabs Haru, Tyro and Katara as he pulls them in for a big hug. However due to Zian's strength he is hurting them a bit. "Zian…nnngh…hurt." Is all Katara can say as she in being crushed by his strength. Zian realizes this as he let's go of them and chuckles. "Sorry" He says rubbing the back of his head.

Toph smiles at this but she suddenly becomes alerted as she turns to her left. "No way. Is that-" Toph when she is suddenly picked up by two gigantic hands. It is none other than The Big and the Bad and the FAT Hippo! Along with the boulder I guess. The Hippo hugs Toph as he gives her a wide smile. "Hippo happy to see The Blind Bandit." He says while Toph looks at him with an angry face. "You guys here for a rematch?" She asks.

The boulder shakes his head. "Nugatory, The Boulder and The Hippo no longer fight for others entertainment. Now, we fight for our kingdom!" He says as Toph looks at him and smiles. "Sweet" She says.

Zian smiles at this as Zian looks at the ship. Suddenly an explosion erupts from the ship leaving it surprisingly undamaged but the others confused. The group run to see what happened. Someone in a wheelchair rolls down the ramp as it is Teo along with his father and also the mighty Pipsqueak and the agile The Duke as they all descend from the ship covered in some tanned substance. "Was that a new invention?" Sokka asks as Teo is for some reason licking his fingers clean. The Mechanist walks to them as he rubs the back of his neck. "Yes, but unfortunately the incendiary capabilities of peanut sauce prove to be a failure." He says.

Sokka looks at him dumbfounded. "You're making peanut sauce bombs?" He asks. "They're destructive." The Duke says. "And delicious." The Duke says as they both lick their faces clean of the peanut sauce splashed on their faces. Momo jumps on their faces as he licks the rest off of them as while they laugh.

Zian chuckles as he approaches The Mechanist. "It's good to see you sir." He says as he bows to him. The Mechanist smiles as he bows back. "The same goes to you too my boy." He says. He then notices someone behind Zian as he sees that it is Mizu. "Oh my and who do we have here? Is this a new member of your little group?" He asks as he looks closer at her with is magnifier on his left eye. This makes Mizu slightly uncomfortable as she leans away a bit.

After that The Mechanist smiles as he bows to her. "Good to meet you…" He says as he stops unsure of what her name is. "Mizu, my name is Mizu." She says. The smiles as he nods his head. "Of course, it's good to meet you Mizu." He says as he leans to Zian. "Be sure to hold onto this one. She's a winner." He says as this causes not only Zian but Mizu's eyes to widen as Mizu blushes. "Uhm sure." Zian says unsure of how to process this.

Sokka luckily breaks the awkwardness as he approaches The Mechanist. "So were you able to complete the work on the plans I send you?" Sokka asks. The Mechanist smiles with confidents. "Yes, I was, and I think the Fire Nation will be quite surprised." He says.

"Aang, my dad and I made this for you." Teo says as he pulls out a sort of staff that appears to look like both ends are padded. As Aang takes it wings unfold from the top part of the staff and two handles as well as tail fins. Aang looks at it impressed. "A new glider, this is amazing." He says. "And as a special feature I added a snack compartment." The Mechanist says as he twists one of the handles and a panel opens up as peanuts fall out and into his mouth. Aang looks at him trying to be also impressed by that. "Uhm well I'm sure that will come in handy." He says.

* * *

 **Later**

* * *

All of the people who have come to help kneel/sit in front of a earth podium as they wait for the person to come up and explain the plan to them. Mizu, Zian, Aang, Katara, Toph, Hakoda and Sokka sit next to the stairs of the podium as Sokka is the one going to explain the plan to the people. The only problem however is that he is nervous. Hakoda looks at Sokka. "Don't worry, you'll do great." He says as Sokka takes in a deep breath before standing up and walking up the stairs to the podium.

He looks at all of the people. "Good morning everyone AAAGH!" He trips as the maps scatter allover the floor as he quickly picks them up. After that he looks at the people. "So…uhm…as you know today we are invading the fire nation. I mean I know you know that because why else would you be here." He says giving nervous laughter. He accidently drops a few of the maps as he quickly picks them up and places them on wooden panel.

"The fire lord's palace is here." He says pointing to a symbol as he looks and sees that it is not the right map. He sees that the next one is not the right still as he flips through several of them. "Uh nope, uh wait, uh wait, uh wait, it's here." He says coming to the right one. "And uh, there's an eclipse today and Aang's gonna fight the Fire Lord and the firebenders won't have any fire to use so that's good for us! And ... um ... I'm sorry let me start at the beginning." He says. He then stands up straight as he proceeds to talk really fast. "Katara and I discovered Aang frozen in an iceberg, now I didn't like Aang at first but grew to love him over time, then we went to the Southern Air Temple where Aang used to live and then we met Suki, who's a Kyoshi warrior. She dressed me like a woman and then she kissed me, and then Aang's friend was a crazy old king and ..." He proceeds as Zian whistles I amazement .

"Wow, when he says the beginning he means the beginning beginning." Katara says as Zian chuckles. "Well at least Mizu get a nice story of what happened before she joined us. Even if it is being told by someone who's losing it." Zian says as they continue listening.

"... And then Katara got Haru arrested and then now he's grown a moustache which if you look at him in the front row you can see it ..." He speak as Hakoda comes up to the podium and stops him right there. "Thank you, Sokka. It's okay why don't you take a break?" He says as Sokka leaves the podium, disappointed in himself.

As Sokka leaves Hakoda addresses the crowd. "Let me just clarify a few points for everyone. Today, is the day of black sun, and I want to thank you all for your self-sacrifice, and your courage. There are two steps to the invasion, a naval stage, and then a land stage. To gain sea access to the Fire Nation capital, we need to get past our first major obstacle here, The Great Gates of Azulon. Next, we hit the land, and we hit hard. We must fight past their battlements and secure the plaza tower. Once we do that, it's up to the Royal Palace. At that point, the eclipse will begin." Hakoda explains with ease.

Boulder raises his hand as he has a confused look on his face. "Excuse me. The Boulder is confused. Isn't the point to invade during the eclipse, when the firebenders are powerless?" He asks.

Hakoda looks at them all. "The eclipse only lasts eight minutes, not enough time for the whole invasion. And the Royal Palace is heavily guarded by firebenders. However with the eclipse's help and help of Zian's transformation we'll be able to easily secure the capital. When this is finished, the Avatar will have defeated the Fire Lord. We will have control of the Fire Nation capital, and this war will be over!" Hakoda shouts as he raises his fist. Everyone cheers at this as this gets them all ready and pumped.

Everyone prepares themselves for the battle as they all put on their armours and gear. Zian gets ready as he puts on the necessary gear and holds onto a small sack. Mizu comes along and walks over to him. He looks at her and smiles. She notices the bag and is curios by it. "What in the bag?" She asks him. He smiles. When we get to the battlefield then you'll see." He says.

He closes the bag as he looks at her. "Well looks like this is the moment. The moment where we will be able finally take down the fire nation." He says. Mizu stands there rubbing her arm. "Yeah, I guess it is." She says. "You do realize that once you enter the battlefield and start shooting fire at your people they will mark you as a traitor, right?" Zian says as Mizu nods. "Only until this war is over will that be marked on me." She says as she looks at Zian. "But knowing that I'm fighting against my own people for a better future means that I'm willing to hold that burden." She says as this makes Zian smile.

Mizu suddenly has as sad and worried look on her face as Zian notices this. "Are you ok?" He asks her. She still looks nervous. "Yeah it's just that I wanted to tell you something for a while." She says. Zian stands up as he looks at her confused. "Okay. What is it?" He asks her. She takes in a deep breath. "Well it's just that we are going to battle and I feel like that we may not survive it." She says. Zian grins. "Hey, don't think like that. I'm sure we'll make it." He says feeling confident. Mizu walks closer to him as she looks at him in the eyes. "See the thing is in case we don't make it from this. I just wanted to let you know that…" She says.

"Hey guys! It's time to go!" Katara screams to them. Mizu and Zian look in the direction that Katara is in as they see her waving to them on the docks. "Ok we'll be there!" Zian screams as he looks at Mizu. "Well I just want to say good luck." He as he walks to the ships. Mizu stands there looking a bit steamed at Katara before walking to ships.

The ships set sail as they head towards the fire nation capital. After a while Hakoda sees something as he takes out his telescope and looks through it. "There they are, the Great Gates of Azulon." He says. Katara looks around. "I don't see any gates." She says. Zian takes the telescope as he looks through it. He sees a giant statue of fire lord. "You know it never ceases to amaze me how full of himself the fire lord is." He says. Hakoda looks at Katara. "Katara, you and the swamp benders whip up a fog cover." He says. "We'll sneak by them statues just like we sneak by that Fire Navy blockade!" Tho says.

Katara and the swamp benders stand in the middle of the boat as they start bending. Fog slowly starts to cover all of the five boats as it leaves them completely covered. "Really hope this works." Zian says. They move to the gates ever so slowly still seemingly undetected. "Keep it up, we're almost through!" Hakoda says.

Suddenly a loud bell starts ringing. Two golden dragons that situated on two sides start reeling in giant nets. The arms of the giant Ozai statue hold the rope on both sides as it keeps the nets in place blocking the entrance. To make matters worse the nets that are blocking the way start to light on fire making the path now dangerous to cross as the boats stop.

The fire causes the fog to dissipate making their only cover vanish. "Oh fire flakes." Zian says. They see fire nation speeder heading towards them. Hakoda opens a hatch. "Everyone below deck!" He yells as everyone goes through the hatch. "Let's hope your invention works." Hakoda says to Sokka.

They all enter some kind of metal sub like vessel that looks like a whale as they enter it and it sinks into the ocean below sea level while Appa has an air bubble around his head. "You really out down yourself this time Sokka." Hakoda complements him. "Yeah…way to go Sokka. You managed to invent a worse way of travel than flying." She says as The Duke hands her his helmet and she throws up in it.

Well, I just came up with the idea. The mechanist did all the work." Sokka says. The Mechanist smiles. "Now don't sell yourself short, my boy. It was your idea to use waterbending to make the subs sink and float, brilliant!" He says as Katara and Huu are Waterbending the subs to move them. The Mechanist opens up a scroll. "Though your original designs were a bit difficult to decipher." He says as everyone looks and sees a crude drawing of the plans. "I'm surprised the plans didn't cause you to accidently make the subs out of wood." He says as Mizu nods. "Unfortunately there is one problem I couldn't fix. The subs have a limited air supply. Before we land on the beaches, we'll need to resurface." He says.

After some time the subs resurface as they open the hatches and the people exit to stretch their legs and smell the sea air. Toph, Sokka, Mizu, Katara and Zian approach Aang as they all look at him. "So this is it, huh?" He says. Zian nods. "Yep, to be honest I'm actually surprised we made it this far." He says. Everyone raises an eyebrow at him. "What? Did you expect that we would keel over at the first stop?" Mizu asks chuckling. Zian grins. "Yep, but now I see that after today we can accomplish anything." He says. Sokka looks at Aang. "Are you ready for the Fire Nation to know the Avatar is alive?" He asks. Aang nods. "I'm ready." He says as Sokka grabs his hands but then decides against it as he and all the others proceed to give Aang a big group hug.

"I hope you kick some serious Fire Lord butt, Twinkle Toes." Toph says. "Everyone listen up." Hakoda says as they pay attention to him. "The next time we resurface, it'll be on the beaches. So stay alert, and fight smart. Now break times over, back in the subs." He says as everyone heads back in. Katara and Aang stand there as they look at each other.

"Katara I…" Aang says. "Aang I…" Katara says at the same time as they both stop. "You go first." He says. Katara smiles at him. "We've been through so many things together, and I've seen you grow up so much. You're not that little goofy kid I found in the iceberg anymore." She says as this makes Aang blush. "Guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm really proud of you." She says. "Everything's gonna be different after today, isn't it?" Aang asks her. "Yes it is." Katara says.

Aang looks at her worried. "What if ... what if I don't come back?" He asks her. "Aang, don't say that, of course you'll…" Katara says as she is cut off by Aang who suddenly and unexpectedly kisses her. Aang retracts as he looks at her blushing before opening his glider as flying off as Katara stands there sadly watching him go.

"Yo Katara get ready. It's time to submerge." Mizu says as she goes back into the sub. "What? Right, I'm on it." She replies as she jumps on Appa's head and creates a sphere of water around his head and the subs and the bison sink into the ocean.

After sometime Hakoda pushes up the periscopes as he looks though it. He sees that they are almost close to the beach as he looks at the others. "Everyone in position. Earthbenders in you tanks. This is going to be a rough." He says as all the Earthbenders head into the tanks. As they arrive at the wall sirens rings as towers above the wall see them in the water as the fire soldiers shoot harpoons at the subs. Most of them luckily misses the subs. As Hakoda sees that they are coming close to the holes under the gates that are barded. "Ready the torpedoes." He says as they load explosives that are covered in ice to shape them like torpedoes. "Luanch!" Hakoda shouts as the waterbenders push the torpedoes out of the subs and they fly in the water and crash against the bars as they blow up and clear a path.

The subs swim through the holes as they head to the beachhead. Everyone inside stand to the doors as they wait for them to be opened and the rage of the battle to start. As soon as the subs merge out of the water the towers starts shooting at the subs with explosives as they deal no damage to them. As they subs dock the beach the doors open as metal caterpillar body like tanks move out of the subs along with vehicles carrying boulders come out. The warriors of both the water tribe and the earth kingdom along with Zian come charging out as they unleash the fury of their battle cries.

Explosions and fire are being shot at the warriors as they make their way through the grounds. Every now and then the vehicles carrying the boulders would drop them so that the Earthbender who are not in the tanks can use them to take out some of the towers.

Zian and Mizu stick together as they fight some of the fire nation soldiers. The battlements on the walls start shooting as one of them hits one of the tanks as it topples over. It also takes out one of the boulder trucks as it destroys the cargo but the driver is fine as the driving front keeps moving.

Hakoda looks at the battlements and then looks at Zian and Mizu. "Zian, I want you and Mizu to take out those battlements on the walls while I, Katara and Sokka take out the others." He says. Zian and Mizu nod to him. "You can count on us." Mizu says. "Follow me." Zian says as he runs to the wall and Mizu follows him. When they reach it Mizu looks up and scratches her head. "How are we going to get up there?" She asks. She looks at Zian who is rummaging through the bag from earlier.

"What are you doing?" She asks him confused. "Remember earlier when you asked me what's in the bag?" He asks. "Mizu nods. "Yes" She says. Zian smiles as he pulls out a big chunk of some blue diamonds. Mizu looks at it. "What's that for?" She asks. "Zian stands up. "These are the exact same diamonds from the crystal catacombs in Ba Sing Se." He says. Mizu sees an explosive harpoon coming towards them. "Look out!" She shouts as she thinks fast and tackles Zian out of the way from the harpoons destination as it explodes.

They both stand up as they calm down. "Where did you get diamonds? Also how are diamonds going to help us in this situation?" She asks him. He smiles to her. "I'll tell you later and like this." He says. He proceeds to bend the diamonds as he bends them around his hands as they take shape into pickaxes. Zian grins at her as she does the same. "Huh, colour me impressed." She says. Zian faces the wall as he looks up. "Can't we just use Appa?" Mizu asks him. Her question is answered as they see that Appa is a bit occupied as he is busy fighting some soldiers. "Nevermind" She says. "You'll have to grab onto me. I'm pretty sure our climb won't go unnoticed so be sure to deflect any incoming fire at us." He says. "Will you be able to climb even with me on your back?" She asks. He smirks. "I can handle it." He says.

Zian smack his right pick hard into the wall as he does the same with the left. Mizu grabs onto him as he starts to pull himself up and climb his way up. He climbs his way as fast. Zian is right about their climb as some of the fire soldiers have notice them as they start shooting at them trying to bring them down. Mizu does her best to make sure that Zian isn't hit as the result would terrible.

As they finally reach the top Mizu climbs over Zian's back as he reaches the top and pulls him up. He stands up as he looks at her. "You take out the ones on the left and I'll take out the ones on the right." He says. She nods as they spilt. Zian reaches his battlement as he goes into it. The soldiers in the battlement notice him as they attack. He changes his right diamond pick into a hammer. As the guard approaches he slams them away and the other one that is right behind him. He approaches the cannon as he turns his left one into a diamond sword. He slices the cannon in half as he runs away before it explodes. Satisfied with his work he moves on to the next one.

Mizu comes to her battlement as she runs in. She immediately starts firing on them as the soldiers take cover. "What? She's one of ours." One of the soldiers says. "You're a traitor to your own kind." Another soldier says. Mizu gives a gives a grin. "So what if I am. Besides how can I be a traitor when I never believed in your cause to BEGIN WITH?!" She says as she just flails fireballs at the soldiers.

The battlement explodes as Mizu runs out of it. Feeling satisfied with the amount she destroyed she runs back to the place where she and Zian started. She sees Zian as she runs to him. She is near him as she starts panting as he does as well. "So how many did you get?" Mizu asks. "6, you?" He asks. "7" She says as Zian raises an eyebrow at her. "Impressive." He says. They look down as they see Sokka, Katara and Appa with Hakoda who is lying on the ground. "What do you think happened?" She asks him. "Let's go find out and see." He says. Mizu nods as she jumps on his back and holds onto him. He changes the diamond stuff into claws as he grabs onto the wall and skids his way down.

As they reach the bottom they both run over to the others. They reach them as Mizu gasps as she sees Hakoda clearly. He is lying on the ground with a gash on his left side. Katara bends water around her hands as she heals her father. "What happened?" Zian asks her. "Dad got seriously hurt while taking out one of the battlements." She says. "How does that feel dad?" She asks. He groans. "A little...nngh better." He says as he tries to push himself up. "I need to get back to the troops, Nnngh!" He says groaning in pain. "You're hurt…badly. You can't fight anymore." She says. Hakoda looks at her. "Everyone is counting on me to lead this mission Katara. I won't let them down." He says getting up and immediately falling back down as the wound pains him.

"Can't you heal him any faster?" Sokka asks. "I'm doing everything I can." She says. Sokka looks at the battlefield and back at his father as he sighs. "I'll do it." He says. "No offense Sokka, but you're not exactly Mr. Healing Hands." She says to him. "No. I'll lead the invasion force." He says. "Don't be crazy Sokka." She says. "Maybe I am a little crazy, but the eclipse is about to start and we need to be up that volcano by the time it does." Sokka explains.

"You can do this. I'm proud of you son." Hakoda says. "I still think you're crazy, but I'm proud of you too." Katara says to him smiling. Sokka nods as he puts on his helmet and looks at Zian and Mizu. "Will you still do all this knowing that I will lead?" He asks them. Zian has a smug look on his face as he places a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "I've stuck by your crazy ideas ever since we met, don't think that I will be giving up on you anytime soon. To the ends of the earth and back, I will follow you." He says as this makes Sokka smile and he looks at Mizu. "What about you?" He asks. Mizu shrugs. "Well I'm still here so that must say something about me. Either I'm insane or I really do believe in you." She says. Zian chuckles. "Let's go show the fire nation who they are fighting against." He says. Sokka, Mizu and Zian climb on Appa. "Yip yip." Sokka says as the bison flies up leaving Katara to tend to Hakoda.

They arrive in the heat of the battlefield where destruction and explosion can be seen. Appa lands in front of a fire nation tank as he slams it away with his head. Sokka turns to the warriors. "Listen up, everyone. I want the tanks in wedge formation. Warriors and benders in the middle. We're taking that tower, and heading for the royal palace." He says as the earth tanks do so. Sokka sits on Appa's as he takes his sword out. "Charge!" He yells as he flies up and the tanks follow him to the palace towards victory.

* * *

And the chapter is done hope you enjoyed the first out of a two part.

As always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	7. Chapter 7: The Day of Black Sun, Part 2

And the second part is here hope you guys enjoy

* * *

Chapter 7: The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse

* * *

The battle rages on as boulders and fireballs are shot from both side of the battle field. The tanks are stationed in a crescent formation providing not only a good firing line but also cover for the warriors. Sokka, Bato, Mizu and Zian are behind the tanks looking through the maps and architecture blueprint of the island and palace. They hear the sound of an explosion behind them as they cover their heads. Sokka looks up and his face brightens as he sees two people. "Dad!" He says as he runs to Katara carrying Hakoda to a rock as he sits on it. "You're on your feet again." He says happily.

Zian smiles as he crosses his arms. "Glad to see that you're still kicking Hakoda." He says as Mizu nods in agreement. "Thanks to Katara. I'm in no shape to fight, but maybe there's some way I can help." He says. "Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet." He says. Mizu nods. "Yep it's going as smooth as, one moment." She says as she turns around jumps on one of the tank and shoots one of the fiery boulders that is heading towards them as it explodes into pieces. She climbs down and looks at the others. "Like I said, it's going smooth." She says.

"Let's hope our luck holds out." Hakoda says. He looks at Katara as he notices she is looking at something. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?" He asks. She raises her eyebrow quizzically. "Yeah. Is that ... is that Aang?" She asks. Zian shakes his head. "Impossible I'm sure you're just seeing a bird or…" He says as his jaw drop when he looks up at the sky and sees that it is Aang.

Aang flies down towards them as he lands in front of them. "Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down." Sokka asks hoping his answer is yes. Aang looks at them disappointed. "He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned." He says as everyone's eyes widen. "They knew." Sokka says realizing it. Aang looks at the ground dismayed while rubbing the ground with his finger idly. "It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long-gone; far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse." He says.

"No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker; somewhere he could go and be safe during the siege but still be close enough to lead his nation." Sokka says. "If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it." Toph says pointing to herself. Sokka pulls out some type of timing mechanism as he looks at it. "The mechanist gave me this timing device. It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord." He says. "We can still do this. We can still win the day." Aang says confident.

"Wait! If they knew we were coming it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely." Katara says worried. "Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang to go for it." Hakoda says. Sokka turns to Aang. "What do you think? You're the one that has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you." He says.

Aang stands up and looks at the palace. "I've gotta try." He says as Zian stands up. "Consider Mizu and me a part of this plan." Zian says. Mizu shakes her head. "No Zian you can't go. You have to stay here for when the eclipse appears. Even if a lot of people left the city there are still too many fire nation soldiers for our forces to fight. No I will go with Aang, Toph and Sokka while you stay with the invasion force. They need your transformation if they are going to have any chance in securing the palace." She says. Zian sighs as he looks at her. "Are you sure about this?" He asks. "Positive." She says. Zian nods. "Okay, I'll stay here while you four go into the bunker. Just…just please be safe." He says.

Mizu smiles. "Don't worry, I will." She says. Toph, Sokka, Mizu and Aang all jump on Appa as the bison flies up and towards the volcano. Appa lands on it as they the four of them climb off as Toph starts feeling the ground. "Do you feel anything down there?" Aang asks her. "Yep. There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the inside of the volcano." She explains.

"Anything else? Is there a structure somewhere?" Sokka asks. Toph digs her hands into the ground "There is something big, dense and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano." She says. "Sounds like a secret bunker to me." Sokka says. Toph bends the ground as she creates a hole in it and jumps in along with Sokka and Mizu. Aang looks at Appa and Momo. "Stay safe. We'll be back soon." He says as he jumps in the hole. Mizu looks at the tunnel. "Huh, must have taken them some time to build like this inside a deadly volcano." Mizu says.

Toph uses her senses as she points to the right tunnel "This way! That one's a dead end!" She says as she runs and the others follow her. "What would we do without you?" Sokka asks. "Perish in burning hot magma." Toph says as Sokka looks at the lava and flinches. "Yeah pretty much." He says. They come to a chamber where they see several lava sprout on the ground that is shooting magma out of them. "The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker." Toph says pointing to the end of the chamber. "We'll have to be fast, but careful." Sokka says. He walks when suddenly a lava sprout suddenly shoots lava up as Sokka flinches back. Aang uses his air bending to cool down the lava. "You were saying?" Mizu asks.

Sokka looks back at them. "I was wrong. We need to be fast, careful and lucky." He says. Mizu nods as they start running across dodging and being careful at the sprouts. When they come at the end of the chamber they are shocked at what they see. All around the chamber lava covers the floor as it shows no sign to cross it. "There's no floor. It's just a river of lava." Sokka says.

"Climb on aboard." Aang says opening his staff. Everyone climbs up as Aang flies over the lava. As they come to the end of the river they come to a gigantic metal door. "That's some door!" Sokka says impressed. Toph walks to it as she knocks on it. "Not a problem." She says as she gives the door a few quick strong jabs with her elbow making a few deep dents. She then thrusts her fists into the metal as pushes it apart creating an opening for them. She points to the way as they follow her. "I am so glad we added you, Mizu and Zian to the group!" Sokka says following them.

* * *

 **Meanwhile on the battlefield**

* * *

The warriors are pressing on as they walk up the mountain that leads them to the top of the city. They are getting shot at by fire from the towers but the ground warriors use metal shield to protect them. The earth warriors use their bending to take out the towers. A fire nation captain looks up at the sun as he sees the moon is overshadowing it. "Retreat! Everyone move to the secondary defensive position! Retreat!" He shouts as the soldiers retreat up the mountain.

Hakoda looks at his warriors. "The eclipse is only minutes away. We should be able to make it up to hill by the time it starts and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished." He says as everyone cheers and press on to the capital. Hakoda goes to Katara as he places an arm over her shoulder so that she can carry him. "We can wait here if you want." She says. Hakoda shakes his head. "No. I wanna press forward with the others." He says as they both resume with walking.

* * *

 **In the underground bunker**

* * *

Mizu, Sokka, Aang and Toph continue along the passage in search of the fire lord's secret room. A fire nation person whistles to himself as he walks down a passage casually. However his eyes widen when he sees the four heroes as his tunnel and their tunnel connect together as it leads on. He stands with his back against the wall paralysed. They notice him as they are all in their fighting stances.

The person raises his hands as he points to a passage. "The Fire Lord's chamber is that way, down the hall, to the left," He says as he makes climbing motions. "and up the stairs, you can't miss it!" He finishes as the four of them look at him seriously. Aang then smiles as he suddenly becomes friendly. "Thanks" He says as they follow the path he directed them to.

Once they are gone the person relaxes himself as he look both sides before walking again whistling like none of that happened. As the four of them run to the room Sokka pulls out the time mechanism as he looks at it. "Only thirty seconds until the total eclipse." Sokka says as they come to another huge metal door. Aang walks to it as he takes a deep breath. "I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord." He says as he swings his staff hard as the metal door blasts open.

They come to a lit chamber with a throne on the other side. They see the throne but who they see sitting on it causes them to be in complete shock. "So, you are alive after all." Azula says as they look at her with their jaws dropped. Azula looks at them with a sinister and proud smile. "I had a hunch that you survived. But it doesn't matter. I've known about the invasion for months and I see you brought a little traitor." She says looking at Mizu while Aang is shocked by Azula knowing their plan.

* * *

 **Back on the battlefield**

* * *

As the warriors are almost at the top of the mountain the mechanist pulls out his time device as he looks at it. "The eclipse is starting! Put on your eclipse glasses!" He says as everyone but Zian takes out specialized eyewear and puts them on. Katara and Hakoda stop as they both look at Zian. "Are you ready for this?" Katara asks him. Zian crosses his arms as he nods. "I am." He says.

He takes in a deep breath as he bends his legs into a squat. "AAAAAAAAGH!" He shouts not in pain as he slowly starts to transform as fur starts to grow all over him and he becomes taller. Everyone looks at him as they see the powerful earthbending boy starting to change into a powerful ally. His mouth and nose morph into a muzzle with dangers teeth as his ears become more dog like. His back legs start changing as his finger nails turn into razor sharp claws. The transformation come to its end as everyone look at Zian with astonishment. "Amazing." The mechanist says.

Transformed Zian gets down on all fours as he looks at Katara. "Let's go show the fire nation what we are truly made of!" She shouts as everyone cheers and Zian gives out a loud thunderous roar.

* * *

 **Back at the throne chamber**

* * *

Aang, Sokka, Toph and Mizu are all in their stances as they look at Azula with furious faces. "Where is he? Where's the Fire Lord?" Aang says. Azula stands up from the throne. "You mean I'm not good enough for you? You're hurting my feelings." She says acting like she is hurt. "Stop wasting our time and give us the information. You're powerless right now, so you're in no position to refuse." Sokka says pointing his sword at her. "And stick to the truth. I'll be able to tell if you're lying." Toph says.

Azula walks a few steps forward. "Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar." She says as she pauses. "I am a four-hundred foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings." She says deadpanned. Toph pause for a second. "Okay, you're good, I admit it." She says as she traps Azula in earth. "But you ought to consider telling the truth anyway!" Toph says.

Suddenly without warning the earth traps crumbles and breaks as this catches the four by surprise. Azula stands there casually as she dusts herself off. "When I left Ba Sing Se I brought home some souvenirs: Dai Li agents!" She says as two Dai Li agents descend from the roof tops. Aang is angry by this as he swings his staff a gust of wind is shot at Azula. The agents protect her by create an earth shield as the wind disperses.

* * *

 **At the battlefield**

* * *

As the warriors reach to the top they overlook the palace. However they are surprised when they see a front line of trebuchets are aimed at them. "Fire!" The captain yells as the siege weapons launch boulders at them simultaneously. Bato looks at the many oncoming projectiles. "Take cover!" He shouts. Lucky Zian runs forward as he bends a giant earth in front of them. The boulders break on impact. Bato looks at Zian and smiles. "Thanks Zian." He says.

Zian looks at the siege weapons as he runs at them. He leaps in the air and comes down in the middle of them as he slams hard on the ground creating a shockwave which either topples the weapons over or destroys them. The soldiers who were manning the weapons run away in fear at seeing such a powerful beast. Zian roars as he moves in to the city to wreak havoc.

Bato sees Zian moving through the city as he looks at the warriors and the tanks as he raises his spear. "Surround the periphery! We have to secure the palace by the time the eclipse is over! Otherwise, we'll be in for the fight of our lives." He says as the warriors and tanks move into the city.

The invasion force come across some fire nation soldiers. "Stop! Surrender peacefully and we won't harm you." Tyro says. The leader looks at him seriously. "We'll never surrender!" He says as he does some frenzied motions with his hands as he thrust his hands forward to shoot fire only for a whimper of smoke to come out. The leader looks at Tyro as they back down. "Okay, we surrender." He says.

On the mountain top Hakoda and Katara look down at the battle. "There it is: the Fire Nation Royal Palace. We've come so far." He says sounding happy. "It's not over yet." Katara says as Hakoda nods and they walk down to the city.

* * *

 **Throne room**

* * *

A fight breaks out as the four of them fight against the agents as they try to get Azula to stop and pin her. Most of the agents have been dealt with as the four of them chase after Azula out of the throne room. "I can't pin her down! She's too quick!" Aang says as they run after her out of the room. An agent follows Azula as he is protecting her. He is suddenly surprised by Mizu who despite is unable to use her bending trips the agents while Toph pushes him into a metal beam and traps him there.

They continue chasing Azula when Sokka stops. "Wait! Aang! Toph! Stop attacking! Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!" Sokka says as they all (even Azula) stop and looks at him. Azula looks at him calmly. "Not true. I'm giving it my all." She says.

Mizu starts to get angry. "You're just wasting our time by keeping us here." She says. "Um, right, I think your friend just said that, genius. And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes." Azula says rolling her eyes in disgust. Mizu growls at this. "Shut up or I'm going to roll your head!" Mizu says.

"Awww, what the matter? Little fire bender feels guilty for betraying her own people?" Azula says to her mockingly. Mizu growls as she is starting to really lose her patience. "She's just baiting you again." Sokka says to Mizu. "Aang looks at Sokka. "Okay, so what do we do, just ignore her?" He asks. "We don't have a choice. We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow." Sokka says. The others nod as they turn around and leave. Azula stands where she is still calm. "It's a trap. Don't say I didn't warn you." She says. "Ignore!" Sokka say as he keeps on walking.

Azula looks at Sokka with a smirk. "So, Sokka's your name, right? My favourite prisoner used to mention you all the time." She says. This causes Sokka to stop as he turns around and looks at Azula with a suspicious glance. "She was convinced you were going to come rescue her. Of course you never came, and she gave up on you." She says. Mizu looks at Sokka worryingly. "Sokka don't" She says.

Sokka ignores Mizu's voice as he charges at her in a blind rage. Azula has an evil look on her face. "Come and get it." She says. She pulls out a dagger behind her back. Toph notices this as she quickly bends some earth and shoots it at Azula as she shackles her against the wall. Sokka looks at Azula face to face. "Where. Is. Suki?!" He says furiously.

"Where's Suki? Answer me!" Sokka interrogates Azula angrily. Azula stands there with a smug look plastered on her face. Mizu places a hand on her shoulder. "Sokka stop, she's not going to tell you anything." She says. Sokka ignores her. "Where are you keeping her?" He says demanding to know.

Suddenly Mizu feels a sensation that was gone for a while but is now back. Aang looks Mizu confused. "Are you okay Mizu?" He asks. "Uh oh." Mizu says. Azula looks at Mizu and grins. "Oh, sounds like the firebending's back on." She says. Mizu quickly pulls Sokka away from her as Azula kicks her foot in the air as fire follows it. Azula then shoots a fireball out of her foot as it heads towards Sokka. Toph tackles Sokka as the fire passes them. Azula uses her fire to break her shackles. She then aims her foot at Aang as he dodges and she slams her foot on the ground.

She looks at them all with a sinister look. "Dad's all the way at the end of the hall then down a secret stairway on the left. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to see you now." She says as she runs away. Mizu gets angry as she starts shooting fireballs at her only for Azula to dodge them as she disappears into the tunnels. Sokka looks at the ground ashamed. "I fell for it! I used up all our time." He says frustrated with himself. Toph looks at him. "It's not your fault, Sokka. Azula was ready for us. She had every move planned out." She says.

Sokka looks sorrowfully. "And now it's too late." He says. Aang looks at the tunnel. "Maybe it's not too late. The eclipse is over. But I can face the Fire Lord anyway." He says as Mizu shakes her head. "I highly advise against it Aang." She says. Sokka nods. "Mizu is right; I don't think that's a good idea." He says. Aang looks at them. "But I'm ready! I came here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me." He says.

"The Fire Lord knew we were coming this time. We thought we had surprise on our side but we didn't. It just wasn't our day. What we need to do now is go and help our friends." Toph says. Aang looks disappointed. "I guess you guys are right." He says. Sokka places a hand on Aang's shoulder. "You'll have another chance. I know you will." He says. Aang nods as the four of them leave the bunker to go help the invasion force.

* * *

 **On the palace grounds**

* * *

The battle has ceased as everything calms down. Hakoda leans on a tank as he and Katara take off their glasses. Zian comes running to them in his form as he stands their and slowly starts to transform. He looks at his hands and then looks at the two of them. "Well then. What now?" Zian asks. They see Bato come running towards them. "What should we do, Hakoda? Shouldn't something have happened by now?" Bato asks him.

"I don't know. But now that the eclipse is over, I expect we're going to see some firebenders any minute." He says while Katara crosses her arms and scorns. Bato's face suddenly becomes shocked as he sees something. Everyone looks at his direction as they understand what shocks him. "Oh no." Zian says shocked. Five or more small war balloons appear from behind the mountain as they carry the fire nation insignia. As if that wasn't bad enough, behind them appear five gigantic war blimps that fly in their direction. "My own invention. Oh, this is terrible!" The Mechanist says in dismay.

Katara looks at the sky as she sees something. "They're back!" She says as they look. The see Appa flying down towards them with Aang, Mizu, Toph and Sokka. As Appa lands Katara runs to them. "It was all a trap! Azula knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move! We've just got to get to the beach as fast as we can. If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely." He says. "They've got air power, but so do I! I'm gonna do what I can to slow them down." Aang says as he opens his staff and flies off.

Katara climbs on Appa. "Appa, you and I can help too." She says as she mounts Appa and they follow Aang. Zian looks at Sokka. "Then I guess while they are busy with that we should start moving back to the subs." He says. Sokka nods. "Agreed. Everyone, let's get back to the subs!" He shouts as everyone runs.

Aang, Katara and Appa catch up with the others as everyone is almost down the hill. They look up and see the giant war blimps hatches are opening as Sokka looks at them alarmed. "Try and find cover! I think we're about to see some bombs!" Sokka says. All of the earth benders create earth shields around them as the bombs drop on them. Bombs explode from every direction as the ground slightly shakes. When the blimps stop firing everyone looks at them as they just keep moving forward with luckily no one majorly hurt. "Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?" Katara asks.

"They're heading for the beach ..." Aang thoughtfully as he immediately becomes alarmed. Zian and Mizu notices this and their eyes widen. "No." The two of them say. "They're gonna destroy the submarines!" Aang says. Sokka looks at the ground hopelessly. "How are we all going to escape?" He asks. "We're not." Hakoda says being carried by Bato as the group look at him. Sokka has a determined look on his face. "Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the Avatar, we could still win." Sokka says. "Yes I'm ready for a fight." Zian says. "Yes, with the Avatar we could still win. On another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa together." Hakoda says.

The group look at him confused. "Wait what?" Mizu says. "We can't leave you behind!" Katara says looking at the rest of the invasion force. "We are not going to leave anyone behind." Zian says. "You're our only chance in the long run. You and others have to go with Aang somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive." Hakoda says looking at Katara. "The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners, but we'll all survive this battle." Bato says. "I've got some experience with the Fire Nation prisons. It's not going to be easy, but we'll get by." Tyro says. Zian slams against the wall. "This isn't fair! We worked so hard for all of this and it doesn't go our way!" He says angrily. Mizu places a hand on his shoulder. "It's oaky Zian, we will stops this war. I know it." She says making Zian a little better.

"They're at the beach already!" Sokka shouts.

Bombs are being dropped at the beach head as the swamps benders try to destroy the bombs as they protect the subs. However they are quickly overpowered as the bombs drop on the submarines and completely destroy them. Everyone looks at the destruction as lames rise up from the wrecked subs as the invasion forces only way of escaping is gone. The youngest of the people say their goodbyes to their loved ones before climbing into Appa's saddle.

Zian stands a bit away from everyone as he looks at the destroyed subs. "Seems like the day is done. Though not in the way that everyone expected." Tui says standing next to him. A few tears run down Zian's face as he looks angry. "Please, don't be sarcastic now." He says. Tui smiles. "And I'm not going to be. I say that today everyone has shown that despite the fact that you all lost the battle you all have come so far and you tasted victory even if it was only for a few moments." He says as Zian looks at him. Tui's smile brightens more. "And because of what you did today by standing by these brave souls and fighting alongside your friends. Well let me say that your father couldn't have been more proud of you." He says.

Zian's face wells up with tears as he feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks and sees it is Mizu who is smiling at him. "I'm proud of you." She says. Zian smiles as he gives her a hug while crying. They walk back Appa as Zian helps Mizu into the saddle. Aang stands up as he looks at the people with gratitude. "Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm gonna make this up to you." He says thankful to all of them as he sits down. Appa launches himself up in the air as they fly away from the island. The group looks behind them as they see one of the war blimps is behind them but not pursuing them. Aang looks at the others. "I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while. The Western Air Temple!" Aang says as Appa flies to the destination.

A small war balloon follows them unnoticed as the passenger is a scar faced banished prince who looks at the bison with a determined look.

* * *

And the chapter is done hope you all enjoyed it and I wish you all a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. I wish all a happy holiday and a wonderful time and hope you enjoy yourselves you guys are the best and I thank you so much for reading my story for so long and keep on supporting me it really means a lot.

As always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	8. Chapter 8: The Western Air Temple

The next chapter is here. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 8: The Western Air Temple

* * *

After leaving the island and the warriors who surrender themselves so that the group can escape, the group along with Haru, Teo and the Duke are on the ground as Appa flew them for a while and is now tired as they decide to walk the rest of the way to their destination…The Western Air Temple.

They have been walking for a while and are not only exhausted but also feel ashamed. "This is humiliating." Katara says. Sokka looks at her. "You mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?" He asks. "Both." She answers. Aang looks at Appa as he smiles and pets him. "Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people." He says. "Well it could be worse." Zian says. Mizu looks at him. "How can it be worse than this?" She asks him. He gives a weak chuckle. "Well we could chased twenty four seven by the fire or be rotting in a prison." He says. His eyes widen as he realizes what he just said. "Sorry you guys." He says apologetically.

"It's okay Zian. We know you're onl trying to see the bright side." Katara says as they keep walking. "I wonder how the rest of the troops are." Teo asks them. "They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he's going back in." He says.

"I miss Pipsqueak." The Duke says. "I miss not having blisters on my feet." Sokka says. Toph stops as her face lights up. "Hey, we're here! I can feel it!" She says. everyone looks ahead and all they see is a cliff edge in front of them. "Uhhh ... I think your feet need their eyes checked." Katara says.

"No, she's right. We are here!" Aang says as Mizu is very confused. "But I don't see a temple Aang." She says. "That's because it's hidden under the mountains." He says as everyone eyes widen in surprise. They mount Appa as they descend down the mountain. As they do so they are shocked as they see the whole place looks normal except for few buildings that are upside down. "This…this is amazing." Zian says impressed.

They land on the platforms next to a fountain as they climb off and look all around. "It's so different from the Northern Air Temple. I wonder if there are any secret rooms." Teo says curiously. Haru walks to some stairs as he looks at The Duke and Teo. "Let's go check it out!" He says. The three of them all go as they explore the place. Aang follows them as he is stopped by Katara. "You guys go. I think we need to talk about some things." Katara says. They nod as they continue. "I'll race you, Duke." Teo says as he goes ahead. The Duke becomes annoyed. "I told you, it's The Duke!" He says the three of them head off.

Aang looks at Katara. "Why can't I go?" He asks her. "We need to decide what we're gonna do now, and since you're the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this." She says. Aang sits down as do the rest of the group as the sit around each other. "Fair enough. So, what's the new plan?" He asks them. "Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan! You just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes." Sokka explains.

"Oh, yeah. That's great, no problem. I'll just do that." Aang says sarcastically. "Aang, no one said it's going to be easy." Katara says. "Well, it's not even gonna be possible! Where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?" Aang asks them. "What about me?" Mizu asks. "No" Zian says bluntly. Mizu looks at him confused. "Why not?" She asks him. "No offense but you're not exactly firebending master material." He says. Mizu sighs. "I guess you are right." She says.

"We could look for Jeong Jeong!" Katara says. "Yeah ... right." Aang shooting her idea down as he lies on his back. "Like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again." He says. Toph is confused, "Who's ... oh, never mind. If it's important I'll find out." She says crossing her arms. "I feel the same way." Mizu says to her. "Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" Aang says as he flies off along with Momo. "What's up with him?" Mizu asks. Sokka thinks. "There's gotta be someone who can teach him firebending." Sokka says. Zian nods. "Yeah and he'll have to learn it…fast." He says as he walks off in a direction.

After some time flying on Appa they manage to find Aang who is still flying with Momo. "Aang, can we talk about you learning firebending now?" Katara asks him. "What? The wind is too loud in my ears! Check out this loop!" Aang says as he does a loop and keeps on flying. "Aang, I think we should be making some plans about our future!" Sokka says. Aang lands near the fountain as do the others with Appa behind them as he looks at them. "Okay, we can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table! Oh, you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber!" He says.

Toph looks at him seriously. "I think that'll have to wait." She says as she points in Appa's direction as the bison moves and reveals to a certain individual who she is actually pointing to. The individual is the infamous prince Zuko himself. The group look at him as they are shocked at seeing him. "Hello…" He raises his hand in greeting and waves to them. "Zuko here." He says as the group stand there both shocked and angry.

The group take their stances as they get ready to attack. "Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so, I just thought I'd wait for you here." He says. Appa approaches him as the giant bison growls at him and then does the unexpected thing. Appa licks Zuko's face covering his face in saliva as he rubs it off. Aang is surprised by this as he lowers his staff. "I know you must be surprised to see me here." Zuko says.

Zian chuckles. "Well to be honest no. Seeing as you have been chasing us all over the world for so long." He says. "Right. Well, uhhh ... anyway ... what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I, uhhh, I'm good now, and well I think I should join your group, oh, and I can teach firebending to you." Zuko says looking at both Aang and Mizu. Everyone is shocked by this except for Zian who crosses his arms and scowls at the banished prince.

"See, I, uhhh ..." Zuko says till Toph cuts him off. "You want to what now?" She asks. "You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!" Katara asks him in a upset tone. "Yeah, all you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!" Sokka says. "I've done some good things! I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!" Zuko says trying to get the group to see reason as Appa licks him again. "Appa does seem to like him." Toph says as the siblings look at her. "He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him. I'm not buying it." Sokka says. "I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past." He says. "Like when you attacked our village?" Sokka says. "Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?" She says.

Look, I admit I've some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should have sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. I'm going to try and stop-" Zuko says as he is suddenly cut off by Sokka who's eyes widen as does everyone else. "Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?!" Sokka shout at him. "Well, that's not his name, but-" Zuko tries to correct him as he is again cut off. "Ohhh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend!" Sokka says sarcastically. "He's not my friend!" Zuko yells angrily.

"That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!" Toph shouts. Zuko looks at Aang. "Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me." Zuko says as he looks at Zian. "And what about you? I see that there is someone who was once like me." He says as Zian crosses his arms. "There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us." Aang says. "You need to get out of here. Now." Katara says.

"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!" Zuko says. "Either you leave, or we attack." Sokka warns him. Zuko gets down on his knees as he lowers his head and raises his arms in surrender. "If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner." He says. "No, we won't! Katara says as she bends some water and blasts it against Zuko. "Get out of here, and don't come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we'd better not see you again!" She says. Zuko stands up and walks away disappointed as the group look at him upset.

* * *

 **A few moments later**

* * *

The group are busy wondering about what happened in the air temple. "Why would he try to fool us like that?" Katara asks everyone. "Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap." Sokka says. "I say you were too harsh on him." Mizu says as everyone looks at her surprised. "What makes you feel sympathy for that monster?" Katara asks. Mizu leans against the wall. "I'm just saying that it's rude that you did that considering that he was offering to help Aang." She says. "He is lying. This is just like when we were in prison together at Ba Sing Se. He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings." Katara says.

"He wants you to trust and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down, then he strikes." Sokka says. "The thing is, it worked. I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt, but obviously, when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price. We can't trust him." Katara explains.

"I kind of have a confession to make. Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?" Aang asks. Sokka looks at him upset. "And you made us suck on frozen frogs? How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month!" Sokka says opening his mouth to prove it. Katara rolls her eyes. "Sokka, I looked at it, and I told you, there was nothing there!" Katara says. "I could feel it! It's my throatal flap!" He says. "Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me." Aang says as Zian sighs. "Let's not forget that night I not only saved you but also Zuko." Zian says as the siblings look at him. "What?! Why?!" Sokka asks.

"Even if I did hate the nation with a passion back then I couldn't just leave him there." He says as he looks at the mountains. "And to this day I still don't regret it." He says. "Well I'm he I'm sure he only did it so he could capture Aang himself!" Katara says. "Yeah, face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him." Sokka says. Aang lowers his head in disappointment "You're probably right." He says.

"And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free? What a liar!" Katara says. "I don't believe he was lying." Zian says. "He same here." Mizu agrees. "They're both right he wasn't lying." Toph says. "Oh, hooray! In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list." Sokka says sarcastically.

"I'm just saying that, considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse." Toph says trying to be optimistic about it. Zian chuckles. "Can't deny that. His sister is one crazy batch of evil." He says. "You're right, you three! Let's go find him and give him a medal. The "not as much of a jerk as you could have been" award!" Katara says to them sarcastically. "All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere." Toph says.

"Yeah maybe you are all just having your emotions cloud your judgements." Mizu says. Katara looks at her. "Easy for you to say! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!" Katara says. "Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!" Sokka adds. "Or when he tried to capture me at the Fire Temple!" Aang says. Zian looks at them. "Hey I may have suffered too but at least I am thinking straight and so are Mizu and Toph." Zian says. Katara looks at him offended by his statement. "Why would you three even try to defend him?" Katara asks.

Toph walks over to them angrily. "Because Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact: Aang and Mizu need a firebending teacher! We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job! Now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?" Toph says. There is a pause for a moment. "I'm not having Zuko as my teacher!" Aang says to her. "I would." Mizu says as Zian grins leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "What? Do you have a crush on him?" He asks teasingly. Mizu punches him on his arm. "Shuddup." She says walking away as Zian snickers.

Sokka looks at Aang. "You're darn right you're not, buddy." He says. Katara looks at Toph. "Well, I guess that settles that." She says. Toph looks at them angrily as she turns around and walks away. "Ergh! I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here!" She says. Sokka, Aang and Katara look at Zian. "Well Zian?" Sokka asks. Zian sighs. "I have to say, I wonder who is the more reasonable ones." He says as he walks away.

* * *

 **The next morning**

* * *

Everyone is on the temple courtyard as they all have breakfast. Katara pours some into a bowl as she hands it to Duke. "Has anyone seen Toph?" Katara asks. "I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday." Sokka says. Katara looks at Zian. "Zian?" She asked. Zian shakes his head. "Nope." He says. Katara then looks at Mizu. "Mizu?" She asks. Mizu shakes her head as well. "Nada." She answers.

"Maybe she's just exploring the air temple. There are some pretty fun spots to practice earthbending." Haru says. "If you say so, though I have a feeling that says otherwise." Zian says. "I think we should go look for her." Katara says. "Let her have fun with her rocks. I'm in no rush to have her yelling at us again." Sokka says sitting next to the pot that is cooking their breakfast. "We can go check for her!" The Duke says. Teo goes to them as he has a bandage over his head. "Yeah! I want to ride that tunnel down to the Hall of Statues again. It will work a lot better now that I fixed my brakes." He says testing the breaks as the three of them run off and go search for Toph. "Somehow I get the feeling they just want an excuse to go explore the rest of the temple." Zian says pouring the breakfast into a bowl.

A large rumbling suddenly occurs as the wall behind the group blast open. Out of the hole appears Toph as she slides down the rubble of rocks as she on the ground with her feet in the air. Katara, Aang, Sokka, Zian and Mizu run over to her. "Toph! What happened?" Katara says. "My feet got burned!" Toph says. "Oh no, what happened?" Katara asks again. Toph gets annoyed by this. "I just told you, my feet got burned!" She says. Katara looks at her. "I meant, how." She says.

"Well, I kind of went to see Zuko last night." Toph say as everyone but Mizu is shocked by this. "You what?" Aang asks. "Zuko?" Katara says shocked. "Uhhh ...!" Sokka says. Mizu grins. "I kind of had a feeling you would do that Toph." She says. "I thought he could be helpful to us." Toph says as Katara bends some water and use it to heal Toph's feet. "And if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out." Toph says. "So he attacked you?" Katara asks. "Well, he did, and he didn't. It was sort of an accident." Toph says trying to defend Zuko.

"But he did firebend at you?" Katara asks. Toph sighs. "Yes" She says. "See? You trusted Zuko, and you got burned. Literally!" Sokka says. "It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. I wish I could have worked on them sooner." Katara says. "Yeah me too." Toph agrees. "Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him." Sokka says. Aang looks regretful at this. "I hate to go looking for a fight, but you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice." He says.

"After he did what to Toph?" Zian asks as the four of them look at him. "Do you not hear what he did to Toph? He burnt her feet and is a danger to us." Sokka says. Zian just shrugs. "All I heard during this whole thing was, he could be helpful to us and it was an accident." He says. "So what, you're not going to help us capture him?" Sokka asks. Zian shrugs. "I'm not taking part in capturing someone who has shown that he isn't a threat to us anymore." Zian says as he walks to the courtyard. Sokka looks at Mizu. Mizu shrugs. "I agree with Zian on this one. Zuko wants to help and you guys are just finding reasons to get rid of him." She says as she turns around and follows Zian.

Sokka ignores them as he looks at the others. "Ok so we know Zuko crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him." Sokka says. "Maybe just invite him back here." Toph says as Sokka and Aang pick her up. "He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once." She says. Sokka grins at her idea. "Yeah, get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner, then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it!" He says as they carry Toph to the fountain. "You are a master of surprise, Sokka ..." Katara says as she follows them.

They dip Toph's feet into the fountain as she smiles. "Ahhh, that's the stuff. Now I know how the rest of you guys feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks." She says. "Yeah because we hate the fact that we can't see with our feet." Mizu says sarcastically. Aang walks over to the table and grabs a towel for Toph as he gives them to Katara. "So why do you want him with us?" Sokka asks Zian.

Zian turns to them. "It's because of the fact that we are clearly running out of options to have Mizu and Aang learn firebending so the best we have to do is get Zuko on our side and…"

BOOM!

A loud explosion hits the fountain as they look at the roof of the other side of the temple and see Combustion Man. Aang and Sokka quickly pick up Toph as they take cover behind the fountain. "Stop!" They hear the voice of Zuko as they see him approaching the assassin. "I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore!" He says as Aang is surprised by this. Zuko stands in front of the assassin blocking him. "The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop." He says. Combustion Man shoves him out of the way as he attacks again. The explosion this time hits the fountain destroying it entirely. Zian pokes his head out as he looks at the scene with Zuko trying to stop him.

"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" Zuko as the assassin grabs him. "All right, I'll pay you double to stop!" Zuko says. "I have a feeling the money doesn't matter anymore." Zian says. Zuko kicks him as this causes him to miss again. Getting annoyed by Zuko he turns to face him as he aims for him and shoots him. Zuko uses his fire as a shield as the explosion hits him. Smoke covers the blast as it fades and they see Zuko not there anymore.

Zian quickly throws a huge boulder at Combustion Man as he and the group quickly take behind a wall. Combustion Man loses site of them as he starts shooting. "He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!" Toph says. Katara pokes her head out and quickly pulls back as she sees an incoming blast. "can't step out to waterbend at him without being blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here." She says.

Sokka thinks for a moment. "I know how to get an angle on him!" He says as he takes out his boomerang. He tries to calculate the shot as he holds the weapon behind him. "All right buddy, don't fail me now!" He says as he throws it. It goes around a pillar as it head towards the assassin. The assassin breaths in as he looks in the direction of something he is hearing. Before he has time to react the boomerang hits him squarely in his third eye and knocks him to the ground.

Sokka sees this as he smiles and cheers as they come out from their cover. "Yeah, boomerang!" He cheers as he jumps up and grabs it. Unfortunately Combustion Man gets back up a bit shaken. Sokka moans in displeasure. "Aww, boomerang." He says as everyone runs back to cover. Combustion Man shakes his head as he aims. His vision is blurry and unfocused as he takes a deep breath. His shot fails as sparks emit from his eye and…

BANG!

The whole entire building that he is stand on the other side explodes as it falls to the ground. Zian sees a metal arm coming out of the smoke of the blast as he vanishes into the mist at the bottom of the mountain along with the building. Sokka, Katara, Mizu, Aang and Zian come out of the cover as they are shocked that the assassin is defeated. They look at where the building used to be and see Zuko climbing on a vine relatively unscathed.

* * *

 **Moments later**

* * *

Zuko approaches the group as they look at him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but ... thanks, Zuko." Aang says as. Sokka looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, what about me? I did the boomerang thing." He says. "Sure" Zian says uninterested.

Zuko looks at them. "Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday." He says as Mizu grins. "Eh, I say it was acceptable." She says. Zuko continues. "I've been through a lot in the last few years and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow, my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world." He says as he looks at Toph.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you." He says bowing to her. "It was an accident." He says as Zian looks at the others with a smug look. "Told ya." He says. "Fire can be dangerous and wild, so as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally." He finishes.

Aang is shocked at hearing these words as he thinks for a moment. "think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara, and after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I'd like you to teach me." He says as he bows to Zuko. Zuko smiles. "Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group." He says.

"Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them." Aang says as he looks at Toph. "Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?" He asks. Toph grins. "Go ahead and let him join." She says as she pounds her fist together in a joking manner. "It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet." She says. Aang looks at Sokka. "Sokka?" He asks. Sokka looks down at the ground as he shrugs. "Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it." He says.

Aang nods and looks at Katara. "Katara?" He asks. Katara glares at Zuko who is starting to sweat. "I'll go along with whatever you think is right." She says. Aang smiles as he walks to Mizu. "Mizu?" He asks. Mizu smirks. "Hey we need a teacher and I think a new member to the group is always fun." She says. Aang nods.

Lastly Aang walks to the last person…Zian. Zian looks at Zuko with a stern and serious look. Aang walks to him. "Zian, out of every person in the group you hate the fire nation with a passion ever since you were little. You have accepted Mizu into our group but that was before you found out she was a firebender and yet you move on. I know that I and Mizu need a master to teach us fire bending but we can't until we are all sure that you accept Zuko. Everyone agrees to have Zuko teach us but we all know that your decision weights the most. So, will you accept him?" He asks the earthbender.

Zian looks at Zuko as he slowly approaches him still having the serious deadly look. As he comes close he leans over Zuko almost towering him. Zuko's whole face sweats with tension as he waits for what comes next. Silence fills the entire place.

…

…

…

"Mmhmhmhm, Hahahaahaha." Zian smiles as he starts laughing full hardily. Zuko is completely surprised by this. "Welcome to the family scarface." He says as pulls Zuko into a big bear hug. "Limps...crushing…losing…air." Zuko grunts from the loss of air from Zian's hug. Everyone smiles at this as they are happy at this moment.

* * *

 **Moments later**

* * *

Zian is sitting next to the fountain as he looks at the mountains with a smile. Mizu comes to him as she sits next to him and gaze at the mountains. "Whelp you must be happy" She says to him. He looks at her. "Yep and I have to say that this whole thing has really change me for the better." He says as he looks back at the mountains. "Yeah," Mizu says as she thinks of something.

"Hey, would you mind playing me something?" She asks him as she holds out his lute for him. He looks at her and smiles. "Sure." He says as he takes the lute. He plucks it a few times as he starts.

There are earthbenders who live on this earth,  
Who they are does not matter;  
When you close your earthly story,  
Will you join them in their batter?

Will the circle be united  
By and by, by and by?  
Is a better home awaiting  
on this earth, on this earth?

In the pride of the fire nation  
Oft they told us of their vast creation,  
Now there filled with hatred and destruction.  
Is there hope, is there hope.

Will the circle be united  
By and by, by and by?  
Is there a better home awaiting?  
On this earth, on this earth?

The water tribe adapt to their lives  
Which of them can really thrive,  
They build their cities all high and nice,  
Are they made of water or ice?

Will the circle be united  
By and by, by and by?  
Is there a better home awaiting  
On this earth, on this earth?

The air nomads live way high up  
So that they can't grow attach to stuff,  
Yet do you believe they are joy folk,  
When they live apart from the townsfolk .

Will the circle be united  
By and by, by and by?  
Is there a better home awaiting  
On this earth, on this earth?

One by one they grew apart  
And one by one the fighting start;  
Now the families are pushed away ,  
Will it ever bring them back one day?

Will the circle be united  
By and by, by and by?  
Is a better home awaiting  
On this earth, on this earth?

* * *

And that's it hope you guys enjoyed it. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all a happy new year. As always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	9. Chapter 9: The Firebending Masters

The next chapter is here. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 9: The Firebending Masters

* * *

The sun shines over the mountain and on the Western Air Temple as everyone is up doing their own thing. Aang and Mizu are standing in front of Zuko as he is about to show them how to use fire bending. Zian sits on a earth chair as he watches them. "I know you two are nervous, but remember, firebending in it of itself is not something to fear." He says to his students as they both nod. Aang sighs heavily. "Okay. Not something to fear." He says. "Okay, I shouldn't be scared." Mizu says.

"But if you don't respect it." Zuko says as he turns all serious and anger on them. "It'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo rhino!" He says catching them both by surprise as they flinch back in fear.

"Now show me what you've got. Any amount of fire you can make." He says to Aang. Aang stands up as he stands there and inhales deeply. He thrusts his palm to the side as a small smoke appears from his hand and then dissipates. Aang stands there a bit embarrassed as he looks at Mizu. Zuko looks at Mizu. "Mizu, would you care to show us?" He asks her. Mizu stands up as she takes a deep calm breath and thrusts her fist forward. What she expects however is not what she gets. What she waited for a ball of fire to come out turned out to be the same small smoke that Aang got.

She looks at this shocked. "What? But I know that I did the technique right." She says frustrated by this. Aang looks at Zuko. "Maybe we need a little more instruction. Perhaps a demonstration?" He asks. Mizu looks at Aang with a raised eyebrow. "We?" She asks. Zuko looks at Aang. "Good idea. You two might wanna take a couple steps back." He says. The two do as he says as they walk a little bit away from him.

Zuko takes a deep breath as he focuses. He thrusts his fist forwards, grunting, as he unleashes his fire. What comes out of his fist however is nothing more than a wimpy flame as it dissipates. Aang stands there applauding while Mizu stands there very mouch confused at this. "What was that? That was the worst firebending I've ever seen!" He says. Mizu nods at that. "Yeah I have to admit that was kind of like very very very very beginners level." Zian says as he snickers.

"I thought it was ... nice." Aang says giving a slight smile as he shrugs. Zuko does a few more techniques but alas only to produce the same amount of fire as before. Zuko starts to become very frustrated. "Why is this happening?" He says. Mizu crosses her arms. "Hey, I'm also having trouble with my bending so don't think you're the only one." She says. Aang stands there rubbing his in confusion. "Maybe it's the altitude." He says. Zuko turns around. "Yeah could be." He says though looking a bit unsure.

* * *

 **A few moments later**

* * *

Zuko tries again, again, again and again to produces more than just a mere whiff of fire but so far he has had no better results. Aang yawns as he lies on his back "Just breathe, and ..." Says as he thrusts his hands forward and the same amount of flame comes out of it. "That one kind of felt hot." He says. Zuko looks at him angry. "Don't patronize me! You know what it's supposed to look like!" He says. "Sorry, Sifu Hotman." Aang says. Zuko gets angry. "And stop calling me that!" He says.

Sokka walks over to them eating an apple as he sits in front of them. "Hey, jerks! Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerkbending?" He says jokingly. Zuko gets angry at this. "Get out of here!" He lashes out at him as he points a side. Sokka grins. "Okay, take it easy. I was just kiddin' around." He says as he stands up, turns around and laughs while adjusting hi shirt. "Jerkbending, still got it." He says complimenting himself as he walks away.

After some time as night approaches Zuko stands alone as he looks at the others sitting around the campfire eating food. He walks to them as he grabs their attention. "Listen everybody, I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff." He says. Toph raises her hands in defence. "Don't look at me, I didn't touch your stuff." She says. Zian looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't?" He asks her as Mizu elbows him. "I'm talking about my firebending. It's gone." He says disappointed.

Katara laughs at this as everyone looks at her. Zuko particularly looks at her with an annoyed expression. "I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know, how it would've been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago." She says. Zian looks at her. "You do know that Mizu has lost her firebending as well, don't you?" He says. Katara's eyes widen as she eats some food to avoid awkwardness. "Well it is sad that it's lost." Zian says. "Well, it's not lost. It's just ... weaker for some reason." Zuko says.

Katara glares at him. "Maybe you're not as good as you think you are." She says as this affords her a glare from Mizu. "Ouch" Toph says at both Katara's comment and the glare Mizu is giving Katara. Zuko thinks for a moment and looks at them. "I bet it's because I changed sides." He suggests. "That's ridiculous." Katara says taking a sip from her bowl. "I don't know. Maybe it isn't. Maybe your firebending comes from rage and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to." Aang says.

Sokka pops next to Zuko. "Sooo, all we need to do is make Zuko angry. Easy enough." Sokka says as he starts poking at him. Zuko becomes annoyed by this as he turns to Sokka quickly. "Okay, cut it out!" He lashes out at Sokka causing his sword to slip out of his hand as it flies up in the air and lands on his head. Zuko turns to the others. "Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way." He says.

Zian smirks. "You know there is a different method." He says. Zuko looks at him confused. "What do you mean?" He asks him. "Zian's right, you're gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source." Toph says eating the food from her bowl. Sokka looks at her with an excited look. "How's he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?" He asks her. "No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is." She says. Sokka is confused. "So, is it jumping into a volcano?" He asks.

Mizu looks at him. "You really don't know anything about the fire nation besides knowing that they are horrible." She says. "Either way, I don't know. For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles. One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, just like me. So we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world." Toph finishes. Zian smiles. "Ahh the badgermoles. The original earthbenders and lovers of music. I love those big furry guys." He says as he plays on his lute.

"That's amazing, Toph!" Aang says impressed. "I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison." He says gesturing to a stone painting of some bison. He leans as he looks at Appa. "Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime, buddy." He says smiling. Appa growls as he sleeps.

Zuko looks at them. "Well, this doesn't help me. The original firebenders were the dragons, and they're extinct." He says. Mizu looks down a bit sad. "Yeah" She says. "What do you mean? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid. Not to mention while we were on Roku's island I saw Zian's grandfather with a pet dragon." Aang says.

Zuko gets angry. "Well, they aren't around anymore, okay?!" He yells. Aang raises his hands in a calm manner. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry." He says. Zuko and Aang along with Mizu walk away from the campfire as they think. "But maybe there's another way. The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors." Zuko says. "Sun Warriors? Well, I know they weren't around when I was a kid." Aang says. "No, they died off thousands of years ago. But their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins." Zuko suggests. "It's like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present." Aang says. "Maybe they have a way to help us with our firebending." Mizu says.

"So, what? Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?" Sokka says making weird motions with his hands. "More or less. Either I find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find a new teacher." Zuko says. Aang has a worried look on his face and so does Mizu.

* * *

 **The next day**

* * *

Zuko, Aang and even Mizu ride on Appa as they head to this so called place of where these so called ancient Sun Warriors use to live. "We've been riding for hours. I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster." Zuko says as Appa growls at this. Aang looks at Zuko. "Appa's right, Zuko. In our group, typically we start our missions with a more up-beat attitude." Aang says. Mizu grins as she looks at Zuko. "Not to mention Zian is the one who provides the music for these trips." She says. Zuko falls on his back and lies on the saddle. "I can't believe this." He says. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it." Aang says optimistically. "Hopefully." Mizu says snickering. "It's just a shame Zian didn't come with us, he would love to see some of the stuff where we are going." Mizu says. "Yeah well he felt that this is something that the three of us must do." Zuko says. Mizu sighs as she lowers her head in disappointment. "I guess so." She says

They travel over the ocean for some time until they start to fly over an island. "Hey guys look!" Mizu shouts as she points to a whole city. Zuko and Aang stare at the city in awe as they go down to it. As they fly down they climb of Appa and see that the whole entire city is in ruins and seriously ancient. Aang, Zuko and Mizu walk through the city. "Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them. I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these." Zuko says. "Okay. We've learned something about architecture. Hopefully, we'll learn something about firebending too. The past can be a great teacher." Aang says when he suddenly trips. He trips over a rope that acts as a tripwire. The floor in front of him moves down as a bed of spikes appear from it.

Before Aang's face can meet the spikes he quickly reacts by blowing really hard on the spikes as this causes him to stay in the air as his body moves to the other side of the floor to safety. "Aang are you alright?" Mizu asks worried. As he lands on the other side safely he turns to Zuko and Mizu scared. "Mizu Zuko, I think the past is trying to kill me." He says to them. Zuko bends down and looks at the rope. "I can't believe it. This booby trap must be centuries old and it still works." He says.

"Well it does send out a red flag of, "You must leave this place immediately."" Mizu says the last bit in a spooky voice. "I think Mizu's right, there's probably a lot more. Maybe we shouldn't be here." Aang says a bit scared. Mizu shakes her head. "Not happening." She says as she wall runs to the other side. As she lands she looks at Aang. "I am not going back to the temple until we find the way to help with our firebending." She says. They both turn to Zuko who also wall runs towards them. As he lands in front of them he dusts the some of the dirt from his shirt as he smiles. "Where's that up-beat attitude you were talkin' about?" He says. The three of them turn to the huge temple. "Besides, people don't make traps unless they've got something worth protecting." He says as they walk to it.

They walk up the stairs of the place until they come across a giant carving of a person standing in the middle while two dragons with one on each side breathe fire on him. "Look, this seems promising. Though I'm not sure what this tells us about the original source of firebending." Aang says looking at the carving. Mizu looks at it as she rubs her chin. "To be honest they look a little angry to me." She says. "I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors." Aang says. "Well, they had a funny way of showing it." Zuko says. "Man it sure doesn't really help us with our problem." Mizu says. Zuko looks down at the ground as he walks away. Aang looks at him.

"Zuko" Aang says as Zuko stops walking. "Something happened to the dragons in the last hundred years. Something you're not telling me." He says. Mizu looks at Zuko. "You better tell him." She says. Zuko sighs. "My great-grandfather Sozin happened." He says as they start walking again. "He started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory. There were the ultimate firebenders. And if you could conquer one, your firebending talents would become legendary and you'd earn the honorary title, Dragon. The last great dragon was conquered long before I was born, by my uncle." How says.

"But I thought your uncle was ... I don't know, good?" Aang says. "He had a complicated past. However I have heard somewhere from my uncle that Sozin was challenged by someone due to what he did. Either way family tradition, I guess. Let's just move on." He says. After some time they come to a place that has a circular yellow door that closed with a circular ring carving on the floor with small four rings around it. On the other side of the door is a long pillar with a red gem on the top. Aang walks over to the door as he pushes his fingers between the gaps of the two doors and tries to open them. He doesn't succeed. "It's locked up." He says to the others. "No, you don't say." Mizu says sarcastically.

Zuko thinks as he looks at the pillar and sees that the sun is shining through the gem and creating a small light dot on the one of the symbols. "Wait." He says. "It's a celestial calendar. Just like the Fire Sages have in their temples." He says as he looks at the small gem on top of the yellow door. "I bet that sunstone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits at just the right angle. On the solstice." Zuko says.

Aang is exasperated by this. "Monkeyfeathers! The solstice again? We can't wait here that long." He says. "Well we could if we didn't have to worry about the whole world." She says. "We might be able to speed time up." Zuko says as he takes out his sword and uses it to reflect the red dot from the pillar onto the sunstone. "Let's see if we can outsmart the sunstone." He says. As he gets the light in position Aang looks at it. "Nothing's happening." He says. "Come on." Zuko says really hoping something will happen. After a few moments the ground starts shaking as the yellow doors slowly open. Mizu looks at the doors as she smiles. "And boom the doors have open." She says as she and Zuko walks to the entrance.

Aang smiles as he looks at Zuko and nudges him. "You know, Zuko, I don't care what everyone else says about you. You're pretty smart." He says making Zuko smile. Mizu looks at Zuko and grins. "You know, for a hot head you really have a calm and clear mind." She compliments him as the three of them walk in. Aang squints his eyes as he tries to sees something in the hall. He sees a statue of an angry man as he flinches back. Zuko places a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, they're just statues." Zuko says as he walks in. Mizu looks at the statues. "Really mean looking statue if I must say." She says.

In the room there are statues lined up in a way that it forms two halves of a circle. On side of the statues starts with a pose and makes different poses up until the very end. The other side do the exact same but in a mirror image effect. Aang looks at under the starting statue as he reads a carving. "It says this is something called the Dancing Dragon." Aang says as he looks at the statue. He then looks at the statue as he is curious about its pose. It is standing on one leg while holding its arms apart in the air. Curios about this Aang does the same thing.

He suddenly feels himself sink into the ground a little bit as he looks down and sees that he was standing on a pressure plate. This raises his curiosity as he looks at the other statues with interest. He runs over to Zuko as he grabs his arm. "Zuko, get over here! I want you to dance with me!" He says. Zuko looks at him baffled as he pulls his arm away. "What?" He asks. Mizu grins. "What, I'm not good enough for you?" She asks him. Aang ignores her. "Just do it." Aang says to Zuko as he pulls him to the starting statues. Both of them stand in front of their statue while standing opposite to each other. Zuko groans as he stands in front of his statue. Mizu stands away from them as she watches the scene.

Aang looks at Zuko with his arms spread. "Let's follow the steps of the statues." He says as he and Zuko take the poses of the statue. They then start to move simultaneously as they mimic the poses of the statue. "Don't you see? These aren't dance moves. These statues are giving us a lesson." Aang says. "This better teach us some really good firebending." Zuko says. They both finish off by moving in the same stance as they bend their waists and their arms in the same direction of each other.

After their dance a hole opens up in the centre of the room. A pedestal rise up from the hole holding some sort of golden oval shaped object. Aang raises his arms in triumph. "Hurray!" He cheers as he rubs his head confused. "Wait, what exactly is that?" He asks them. Zuko and Mizu walk to the pedestal. "It's some kind of mystical gemstone." Zuko says. Mizu looks at it with interest. "It looks so cool." She says reaching out to touch it. "Well, don't touch it!" Aang says to them. They both look at him confused. "Why not?" Zuko asks him. "Yeah why not?" Mizu asks as well. Aang looks at them nervously.

"Remember what happened out there with those spikes? I'm just very suspicious of giant glowing gems sitting on pedestals." He says. "Iet's just pick it up. I'm sure nothing bad will happen." Mizu says. Zuko picks up the gem as he gets a weird feeling. "It feels…almost alive." He says

He places the gem stone back a geyser of green slime suddenly shoots out of the pedestal and shoots both Zuko and Mizu into the air and onto a grate in the ceiling. "Oh no, it's another trap!" Aang says. "Gee you think." Mizu retorts as she and Zuko is covered in the green slime and stuck to the grate on their backs. She and Zuko try to come loose but to no avail. "Ugh, I can't pull free. It's like some kind of glue." Zuko says. The whole room fills with the slime as Aang quickly grabs his staff. He swipes a gust of wind at Zuko and Mizu hoping that it will get them unstuck. All it does however is just flip both of them on their backs. "Didn't really help." Mizu says.

Aang wants to do something else but his staff is stuck in the flood of slime. He tries to pull it out but is unable to as the slime gets read to slam him. He lets go of his staff as he jumps in the air and grabs the bars of the grate. They are covered in the slime as Aang tries to pull away. "I can't move! Zuko Mizu, do something!" He says to them. "Well don't look at us. What do you expect us to do?" Mizu says.

The entire room underneath them covers up as it heads towards them. It pushes them forward as they grunt. It suddenly stops as it sinks a little giving them space to breathe but not enough to move. "It stopped." Aang says surprised. "At least we have air. Maybe if we stay calm, we can figure a way out of this." Zuko says. "Let's hope so." Mizu says.

* * *

 **Three hours later**

* * *

As night cover the world Aang, Zuko and Mizu are still trapped in the grate in the same position and place they were a while ago. " "Iet's just pick it up" You said. "I'm sure nothing bad will happen" you said." Aang says quoting what Mizu said a while ago. Mizu rolls her eyes. "Yeah yeah clam it." She says. "You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" Aang says referring to Zuko. "At least I made something happen. If it were up to you, we'd never have made it past the courtyard." Zuko says a bit annoyed. Aang opens his mouth very widely and yells. "Help!" Zuko looks at him confused. "Who are you yelling to? Nobody's lived here for centuries." He says. "Well, what do you think we should do?" Aang asks him. "Think about our place in the universe?" Zuko says. "Well I can where my place is in this universe and it is not here." She says.

Aang sighs as they just lay there. "Who is down there?" They suddenly hear someone say as they look and see a man walking up to them with a scowl on his face. He has red and white face paint and is wearing some red and yellow tribe's men clothing. By the look of his clothing he seems to be someone of importants. Aang, Zuko and Mizu look at the man shocked that someone is here.

After some time they learn that the man who has seen them is the Sun Warrior chief as he calls the rest of his tribe to appear and help them out of their situation. After helping them out, and still covered in slime, a few of the tribe's men bring out a few aardvark sloths to lick the slime off of them. The tribe all look at the three as the chief approach them with the same scowl. "For trying to take our sunstone, you must be severely punished!" The Sun Warrior chief says.

"We didn't come here to take your sunstone. We came here to find the ancient origin of all firebending." Zuko explains. One of the tribe members walks up to the chief as he is carrying the sunstone. "Yeah, right. They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures." He says not believing Zuko. "Man, you must not be friendly to newcomers." Mizu says. The chief hears Mizu's voice as he looks at her and gives her a strange look as if examining her. Mizu is worried by this as she stays quiet.

"Please, I don't normally play this card, but ... I'm the Avatar." Aang says. The man with the sunstone looks at the chief and back the three puzzled. "And I'm Mizu, nice to meet you." Mizu says. The three of them stand up still a little bit covered in the slime. "Just hear us out." Aang says. "My name is Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation." Zuko says as he looks at the ground. "O-or at least I used to be." He says as he looks back at the tribe. "I know my people have distorted the ways of firebending, to be fueled by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the true way, the original way. When we came here, I never imagined the Sun Warrior's civilization was secretly alive. I am truly humbled to be in your presence." He says as the three of them bow their heads. "Please, teach us." He says.

"If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the masters, Ran and Shaw." The chief says. Aang gives him a confused look. "Ran and Shaw? There are two of them?" He asks. "When you present yourself to them, they will examine you. They'll read your hearts, your souls, and your ancestry." The chief says towering over Zuko who is worried. "If they deem you worthy, they'll teach you. If they don't, you'll be destroyed on the spot." He says as he walks back. "Yikes, things are not looking fully great for us." Mizu says.

* * *

 **The next morning**

* * *

Zuko, Aang and Mizu are standing on top of the temple in the city as they stand in front of the chief while the tribe sit behind them. "If you're going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the Eternal Flame." The chief says standing in front of a giant fire place. "This fire is the very first one. It was given to man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years." He says. Mizu whistles with impressed. "Man that's one big fire to keep going." She says. "You will each take a piece of it to the masters, to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending." The chief says.

Aang looks at him nervously. "Umm, Mister Sun Chief Sir, yeah, I'm not a firebender yet. Couldn't my friend here carry my fire for me?" Aang asks. "No" The chief says bluntly. "Okay then." Mizu says. The chief bends some fire as he turns to the three of them. "This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy. You must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control." He says. "Might?" Mizu asks. The chief and a tribe member stand in front of the three as they present them the fire.

Aang stands there a little hesitant. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous." He says. He takes the flame as his face scrounges up but then turns to relief. "It's like a little heartbeat." He says. "Fire is life, not just destruction. You will take your flames up there." The chief says pointing to a mountain. "The cave of the masters is beneath that rock." He says. Mizu sighs. "Well, looks like we have a serious climb ahead of us." She says as the three of them start their ascension up the mountain.

After some time of walking through a forest and walking up the cliff they come to the top of the steepnes of the cliff as Mizu and Zuko turn around to see that Aang is lagging behind. "Hurry up." Zuko says to him. "Yeah, keep up slow poke." Mizu says. "I can't. If I walk too fast, my flame will go out." Aang says. "Your flame's gonna go out because it's too small. You're too timid, give it more juice." Zuko says. "But what if I can't control it?" Aang asks. "You can do it. I know you can. You're a talented kid." Zuko says. Mizu smiles. "Yeah, you can do it Aang." Mizu says. What they are saying makes Aang smile as he climbs up the rocks and follows them.

They finally reach the top of the mountain as they come to the entrance where they are greeted by chief and the tribe as they stand there waiting for them. The chief (along with some tribe members) walk to the three as he approaches them. "Facing the judgment of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you." He says looking specifically at Zuko. "Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearance. The masters might not be so happy to see you." He says as Zuko looks away feeling very ashamed. "I know I wouldn't be." The man who was carrying the sunstone says as he stands next to the chief.

"But once they find out I'm the Avatar ..." Aang says till the chief cuts him off. "Have you forgotten that you vanished, allowing the Fire Nation to wreak havoc on the world? The decline of the dragons is your burden, too." He says him. "Well atleast I have nothing to worry about." Mizu says. He then looks at Mizu. "Did you forget about your ancestry where your family has played a huge role in this war at helping the fire lords in their conquest for power? Your ancestors help in this chaos and the disappearance of the dragons is as much to be blamed to your family as theirs." He says as Mizu looks down in shame. "Oh…yeah." She says.

The chief slams his staff in the ground as he takes Aang and Zuko's fire and gives it to the some members. Mizu is confused as to why he didn't take hers. As soon as the chief is finished handing the fires to the members he turns and looks at her. "Come." He says as he starts walking in a direction. Aang and Zuko are a little surprised by this. Mizu looks at them. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." She says as she follows the chief.

They walk away from place where all of the tribe are as drums and chanting can be heard behind them while the walk down the foot of the cliff.. As they are some distant from the place Mizu looks at the chief. "Uhm, excuse me sir can you tell me where we are going?" She asks him. The chief remains silent as he keeps walking. "Okay then. I guess I'm getting some exercise." She says as they continue down the mountain.

As they reach the base of the mountain the chief suddenly stops. This catches Mizu by surprise as she is not looking where she is going and is caught off guard by this as she bumps into him. She steps back shaking her head as she looks at him confused. "Is there a reason to you stopping?" She asks him. He turns to her as he points to a bunch of trees. "Go and meet the third master." He says as he goes and walks back up the mountain. Mizu looks at him a bit annoyed. "Hey! Are you to explain this to me?" She asks. "No" The chief says bluntly as he keeps walking up the mountain not even bothering to face her. Mizu rolls her eyes as she turns the trees that he pointed to her.

Mizu stands there unsure of what to do. She thinks for a moment before walking to the trees. She goes through them and is surprised when she sees that behind the trees is a dark cave. She is a little hesitant to go in there but she feels something, like something is telling her to go in it. She looks at the cave and takes a deep breath and walks in. luckily she has the flame in her hands otherwise she would have presented nothing to master.

As she delves into the cave she begins to wonder why a firebending master would live in such a dark cave. "It's kind of scary in here." She says as she looks at her fire. "Maybe if I just made it a little brighter." She says as she gives her flame a little juice. It grows bigger and starts to light the cave up more. As her flame reaches a satisfied size she looks in front of her. Her eyes widen as she sees a terrifying scaly monster before her. It looks at her before saying. "Boo"

"Aaagh!" Mizu screams in fear as she falls over nearly extinguishing her fire. The big scaly creature slowly walks up to her terrifying her even more as she moves away from it. She moves as far as she can from it until her back touches the wall and she is sitting there with no way out. She closes her eyes as she prepares herself for inevitable end as she feels the breath of the creature drawing closer and closer.

"Hahahaha!" She suddenly hears laughter as she opens her eyes as sees that she is okay. She looks at the scaly creature as she sees that it is standing there with a smile on its face. "Scared you good, didn't I?" The creature says as Mizu sits there with her mouth hung open. "You can talk?" She asks him. The creature moves its head a little. "Eh, you could say that. I'm actually talking to you in your mind." He says. Mizu is shocked by this as she is confused. "But how?" She asks it. The creature smiles. "All in good time. Now come." It says as it turns around and walks into the cave. Mizu is completely confused as she just decides to follow the creature.

It only takes them a few moments before the creature stops. Mizu looks at the creature with a raised eyebrow. "What's up?" She asks it. The creature doesn't looks at her. "Do you know what I am child?" It asks her. Mizu is confused by this question as she shakes her head. "Not really." She says. The creature smiles as it takes a deep breath and does something that shocks Mizu entirely. As it breaths out it shoots out giant flames from its mouth as it shoots the fire onto a big fireplace. As the fireplace lights up the cave showing the creature completely Mizu is shocked to see what she is seeing.

In front of her stands on four legs a huge scaly old blue dragon. She stands there with her mouth hung open as she is at a loss for words. "I…uuuh…uuhmm." Is all she is able to say not getting an entire sentence out. The dragon looks at her and smiles. "Yes I know, my scales are a little too rough aren't they?" The dragon says. Mizu shakes her head getting her thoughts back as she looks at the great dragon. "Uhm sorry sir but I was told that I was to meet one of the masters here." She says.

The blue dragon turns to her. "Yet you have put the pieces together. In this cave it is just you and me." He says. Mizu thinks for a moment and comes to a realization. "You mean you are…" She says. The dragon nods. "That is correct." He says as he sort of bows to her. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Yoake and I'm one of the three masters to the Sun warriors." He says. Mizu is shocked that a firebending master (who is none the less a dragon) is right in front of her acting casually. Mizu gets on her knees and bows to him. "I'm sorry if I disrespect you in anyway." She says.

Yoake nods his head to her. "There's no need for that, you were not being so. Now stand up." He says as he lies down. Mizu gets back on her feet and looks at him. "Now tell me, why have you come here?" He asks her. She looks at him and sighs. "Well you see master, the thing is that I…uh sort of…lost my firebending." She says ashamed as she rubs the back of her head. Yoake smiles as he shakes his head. "Lost or merely just suppressing it?" He says.

Mizu looks at him confused. "What do you mean?" She asks him. "You say you have lost your firebending and yet I can sense great amounts of it inside you. Tell me, when was the last time you unleashed your full force? By which I mean using your sheer rage to firebend." He asks her. Mizu looks at him ashamed as she thinks back at the battle of the black sun when she was taking out the battlements. She thought when she was attacking the soldiers that she was attacking them in rage almost like she hated them. "When…I thought my own people." She says. Yoake nods in understanding. "I see, I may guess it is because they were fire nation and not because they were soldiers?" He asks her. Mizu rubs her arm as she nods.

"I don't really have a good relationship with my family." She says. Yoake nods again. "I know, your family were directly responsible for the demise of the Airbenders. In fact if I'm not mistaken it was your great grandfather who suggested the idea to attack the Airbenders on the day of Sozan's comet, though not many know that." He says. Mizu nods. "Not the first time my family has told me of my great grandfather's achievement, if you can call it that." She says.

Yoake sighs. "What an ancestor did in the past should not be held responsible to their decedent. What your great grandfather did in the past does not mean you are held accountable. That was his actions not yours and you should not let it affect you. I can see it." He says as he extends one of his claws as it touches Mizu where her heart is. "That you are much different, more humble and more stronger than he ever was." He says. "Now why don't you show me that famous firebending of yours?" He says. Mizu's face lights up as she smiles. She takes in a deep breath as shoots a giant flame in front of her. She suddenly sees Yoake breathing fire from his mouth except this is the type of fire that is filled with all different kinds of colours. Mizu looks at the flames and is astonished by this.

As they both stop with their fire Mizu turns to Yoake and bows to him. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I can repay you?" She says. Yoake smiles. "You don't need to repay me, however mind doing me a favour?" He asks her. Mizu nods. "Yes of course." She says. Yoake smiles again. "Good to hear." He says.

* * *

 **Back at the top of the mountain**

* * *

Zuko and Aang walk down the stairs as they have finished meeting their masters who also happened to be dragons. "Their fire was beautiful. I saw so many colors, colors I've never imagined." Zuko says. "Like firebending harmony." Aang says. "Yes. They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending." The Sun Chief says as he and Mizu wait for him down the stairs. Aang waves to her. "Hey Mizu, so was your master a dragon as well?" He asks her. Mizu nods. "Yep and a lot more talkative than most." She says as Aang chuckles.

Zuko is a little confused as he looks at the Sun Chief. "I can't believe there are still living dragons. My uncle Iroh said he faced the last dragon and killed it." He says. "So your uncle lied." Aang says to Zuko. "Actually, it wasn't a total lie. Iroh was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well." The Sun Chief says to them. He must have lied to protect them, so no one else would hunt them." Zuko says understanding what he means.

"All this time, I thought firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is ... it's energy, and life." Aang says smiling. "Yeah. It's like the Sun, but inside of you. Do you guys realize this?" Zuko asks the Sun Chief. "Yeah, do you guys?" Mizu asks. "Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors ... so yeah." The chief answers.

Zuko turns to Aang. "That's why my firebending was so weak before. Because for so many years, hunting you was my drive ... it was my purpose. So when I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now, I have a new drive. I have to help you defeat my father and restore balance to the world." He says. "We wouldn't have it any other way Zuko." Mizu says happily.

The chief walks to them becoming all serious as they look at him. "Now that you have learned the secrets, and you know about our tribe's existence, we have no choice but to imprison you here forever." He says. "What?" Mizu says as she, Zuko and Aang are shocked by this. The chief immediately smiles. "Just kidding." The three of them are relieved as the chief turns serious again. "But seriously, don't tell anyone!" He says. The three of them nod as they walk back to Appa.

* * *

 **Back at the Western Air Temple**

* * *

As the three of them return to the others they tell them about their adventures as Zuko and Aang show them the dancing dragon as they demonstrate it to them. "With this technique the dragons showed us, Zuko and I will be unstoppable." He says as they end of their demonstration. Everyone claps their hands for them. "Yeah, that's a great dance you two learned there." Sokka says mockingly. Zuko turns to him angrily. "It's not a dance. It's a firebending form." He says.

"We'll just tap-dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord." Sokka says. Zuko is even more annoyed by this. "It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old!" He says. "Oh, yeah? What's your little form called?" Katara asks. Zuko is a little embarrassed. "The Dancing Dragon." He says as everyone laughs. "Well I think it's cool." Zian says as he feels someone poke him on the shoulder. He looks at the person as he sees it is Mizu. "Can I talk to you in private?" She asks him. He looks at her confused before nodding as he follows her.

"What's up?" He asks her. Mizu sighs as she looks at him. "There is something I must tell you." She says. He looks at her a little worried. "Is something wrong?" He asks her. "No, but there is a message I must pass on to you." She says. She says as she takes a deep breath. "He says it is time." She says.

Zian's eyes widen as if he understands what that means.

* * *

And the chapter is done sorry if it took so long but I am busy at the moment so the next chapters will be coming in real slow so please be patient. But as always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


	10. Chapter 10: Reconnection part 1

The next chapter is here. Enjoy

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Chapter 10: Reconnection part 1

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Zian sits next to the fountain as he ponders on what Mizu told him. He thinks of what the meaning of that is and he is knows for sure what it means. He doesn't get to ponder long however as he hears something. "I can hear you guys hiding over there." He says. From behind the pillars appear Toph, Mizu, Katara, Aang and Sokka. They walk up to him. "Sorry, we were just a little worried; you've been sitting there ever since Mizu, Zuko and Aang came back." Katara says.

"Yeah I mean how it is possible for you to go without food for two days? I mean I'm getting hungry just thinking about it." Sokka says as his stomach growls. Mizu rolls her eyes at him. "We just want to know what's wrong." Mizu says. "Yeah, what's got you like this?" Aang asks.

Zian is still sitting as he keeps looks as the mountains and thinks. "I'm just thinking about what Mizu told me." He says. Mizu looks at him confused. "What do you mean?" She asks him. Zian sighs as he stands up and faces the group. "Well you remember the night when Ba Sing Se fell?" He asks them. Aang sadly nods his head. "How can we forget, it was so terrible that we failed the people." He says. Zian sighs. "I know, but during that time while I was in the prison cell and my whole realization about the fire nation after we left I kept having these weird dreams." He explains.

Everyone is curios by this. "What exactly do you mean?" Mizu asks. Zian thinks for a moment. "Well, how can I put this?" He says. "Whenever I go to sleep I get these dreams where I am in a location and the funny thing is, is that it is the exact same dream every night." He says as he takes a minute. "I go to sleep and dream to find myself in a temple but not some stone temple but more like a grassy green temple of some sort. I walk their to enter the temple but only to be stopped by some force as I hear the same exact words "It's not time" every time I do." Zian explains.

Sokka rubs his chin. "Are you sure you are not just hallucinating on some cactus juice? Cause that's how I was…I think." He says scratching his head. Zian shakes his head. "No I'm sure of it, I sure that someone is trying to tell me to go there yet it's stopping me from doing so like I'm not ready." Zian says as he looks at Mizu. "But now Mizu's message has confirmed it, I have to go to that temple. Who gave you the message anyway?" He asks her. Mizu rubs her shoulder. "Would you believe me if I told you it was a big blue dragon?" She asks him.

Zian smirks. "In all honesty, yes." He says. Mizu smiles. "Then yeah it is so. He told me to deliver the message to you and tell you that." She says. "So…what will you do now?" Aang asks him. Zian ponders for a moment. "I think I have to do it." He says as Sokka is a little surprised. "Why? Don't you think this might be a trap? Like some fire nation attempt to capture you." Sokka says. Zian shakes his head. "I doubt the fire nation is capable of sending locations in dreams and know about the three dragons." He says.

Zian sighs. "No, I have to go to the place in my dreams as soon as possible. I'm sure it's the only way for me to stop having these dreams." He says. Katara looks at him with confidents. "Then we'll come with you." She says. Zian shakes his head again. "No, I'm sorry but if the dragon wanted me to bring you guys along or my dreams said so then it would be so but it did not. No I have to do this alone and only alone." He says.

Mizu looks at him a bit worried. "When will you leave?' She asks him. Zian looks at the sky. "It will be a full moon tonight. I can transform and go to the place quickly; I believe this is something that will give me the answers that I need on who I am." He says. "What do you mean?" Toph asks him. Zian sighs. "Don't get me wrong travelling with you guys has given me purpose, but I want to know why do I have this power? Why am I able to understand animals so well? And I want to know who am I?" He says.

Aang gets what he is talking about. "Ahh so this is like a self-discovery journey for you." He says. Zian nods. "Yes and going to this temple is the only way I can realize my purpose." He says. Sokka sighs. "Are you sure about this?" He asks him. Zian looks at him with a determined face. "Yes." He answers. "Okay then we'll be here when you come back." Katara says. "Just please be careful." Mizu says. Zian looks at her and smirks. "Don't worry I'll be back." He says as he hands her his lute. "Take care of this while I am gone." He says. Mizu nods and holds it close as she walks to the others.

* * *

 **Later at night time**

* * *

Zian climbs to the top of the mountain as he looks up at the moon. "Alright Tui, where should I go?" He asks. Suddenly a powerful stench crosses his nose as he smells it instantly flinches back in disgusts. "Ugh! Well you could've given me a trail scent that isn't so revolting." He says as he stands up straight and looks in the direction of the scent. "Nevertheless it's a scent." He says.

He looks up at the moon as he feels the transformation coming on as his body slowly begins to change. He grows with his body turning wolf like as he has the appearance that the change gives him. He gets down on all fours as he raises his muzzle in the air and smells. He catches the horrible scent as he cringes and shakes his head. He pushes himself forward as he burst forward in high speed as he runs in the direction of the smell.

He runs after it while along the way thinking about what he will find at the place. Different trees, plants and night animal's passes by him in a blur as he doesn't even bother acknowledging them as his mind is set on one thing…the temple.

* * *

 **Hours later**

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The sun slowly begins to rise as Zian's mind is not paying attention on this. As the sun rises over the hills Zian slowly begins to transform back however as he is not paying attention to this and is still running at high speed he loses his footing and slips as he slides hard on the ground like a pebble skipping on the water. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow this was ow a bad ow idea ow." He says while skipping as he slows down he starts to slide on the ground as he finally comes to a halt as he lies on the ground face in the dirt. "I really need to pay attention." He says. He gets up as he dusts himself off and rubs the dirt off of his face. "I hope I never happens again." He says managing to get all the dirt off his face.

As he manages to do so he can see as he turns around and looks in front of him and his jaw drops at what is in front of him. "Oh my goodness." He says. In front of him is a large temple that is almost covered in grass and moss. Zian smiles as he stands upright. "Guess this whole crash wasn't a total accident." He says as he starts to chuckle. "Nah who am I kidding. It totally was." He says as he starts walking to the temple. He walks to the temple he sees that it is really high as he sees a flight of stairs and he sighs. "Great stairs." He says as he walks up. After a little while of walking he starts to feel tired as he is a bit confused. "That's strange, why am I getting tired so quickly?" He says.

"You didn't really think this whole journey was going to so easy, right?" Zian hears someone say to him as he grans as he knows who the voice belongs to. "Do you really have to be like that?" He asks as he turns to his left and sees that it Tui who is standing next to him grinning. "Eh, just having a bit of fun and seeing if you are worthy for all of this." He says. Zian is confused by this. "What do you mean?" He asks the spirit.

The moon spirit smiles. "Like I said did you really think this is going to be easy for you? No, this whole journey is to see if you are ready for what lies inside the temple." He says. Zian raises an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you are doing something did something to make me tired?" He asks. Tui shakes his head. "I'm not making you tired. Let's just say I may be applying some pressure on you." He says. Zian looks at him confused. "What?" He says.

As soon as he says that he immediately falls hard on the stairs as he lies there flat. Zian groans as he tries to stand back up but is unable to as he lays there. It is difficult for Zian to move his whole body as he has to try with serious effort to move his head to look up at Tui. "What…have you done to me?" He asks the moon spirit. The moon spirit smiles as he bends down to get close to him. "That my dear Zian is what you would call a heavy burden." He says.

Zian is really confused by this. "What?" He says. Tui moves around as he explains. "You see Zian after I have given your powers you went on and kept telling yourself that it is burden on you and you hate it." He says. Zian listens to him while trying to get up. "But after the night when Ba Sing Se was conquered and I showed you your family you acted like you have accepted your powers." He says as he bends down to Zian's level. "But tell me, have you really?" He asks him. Zian grunts as he looks up at Tui. "Yes I have." He says while still trying to get up.

Tui grins. "Are you sure? Cause if you were then you wouldn't be feeling the pressure on you right now." He says. Zian growls. "I said I do accept this power. I do accept this gift that you have given me." He says. Tui grins as he shakes his head. "Yeah I'm not buying it." He says as he turns around and starts walking away. Zian tries to get up as it is impossible for as he tries with all his might to get himself off the ground to no avail. "Nnnnngh!" He groans pushing himself up.

He gives in as he plops to the ground as he lies there in defeat. He sighs. "Wait." He says. Tui stops and stands there not even turning to face him. He has a smile on his face as he listens to what Zian has to say. Zian sighs again. "Okay so I'm not telling the full truth. Yes I still have this feeling on me that this whole "gift" you have given me is a burden, but I mean what can you expect? You thrusted this power onto me without my knowledge nor my permission. I don't even know why I have this now when my father and my grandfather didn't have it. I mean don't you think it's kind of unfair to do this to me?" Zian asks.

For the first time since Zian has seen him Tui frowns as he sighs. "I have to be honest when I say that it is a bit unfair that I have given this to you without you having a bit of choice in the matter. So I will say this. You have the choice now." He says as Zian looks at him confused. "What?" He says. "I give you the choice, you can choice of whether or not you want this power to be gone and if you choice so than I will never bother you again nor will you have the power. You will be, in your case, free. You will be free from this burden, from this power and this responsibility." He says.

Zian is shocked by this as he looks up at Tui with a surprised look. "Are you serious?" He asks. Tui nods. "You have my word." He says. Zian is shocked by this as he looks at the ground and thinks. " _So this is my chance. My chance to finally get rid of this power."_ He thinks as he realizes something. " _But I can't let this power of mine be taken away. I mean yeah I consider it to be a burden on me for so long but I mean it's help and usefulness has overweighed the burden."_ He thinks as he comes to a conclusion. Tui looks at him curiously. "So Zian, what is your decision? Are you going to give me the power?" He asks smiling.

Zian slowly looks up at him with a serious and determined look. He looks back down at the ground. He starts to slowly get up and he easily but a little bit struggling getting back on his feet. Tui looks at him surprised by this. As Zian is back on his feet he slowly moves his head to face the moon spirit. "You know what?" He says. "You can take your decision and shove it in a stump. Because this power is my birth right. My great grandfather and all does that came before him had this power and accepted the responsibility that came with it." He says as he looks at Tui again. "I'm going in that temple and I am going to find out my destiny." He says as he starts marching into the temple.

As he goes in Tui stands there with a smile on his face. "Looks like he has finally accepted it." He says. "Now it looks like it's my time to play my part." A man says who is the same one who was at the forest when Hama was there says with his arms crossed as he vanishes while walking towards the temple.

* * *

 **Moments later**

* * *

Zian enters the temple as it is almost completely dark except for a few torches hanging against the walls. Zian looks at the dark hallway that is in front of him. He sighs as he takes on of the torches and proceeds. It is long and dark as Zian wonders what he will find in this temple as what secrets it will show him.

While all of this is racing through his mind he is suddenly interrupted by something that he hears. "What is…" Before he can say anything a giant steel blade in a diagonal shape suddenly comes out of the wall as he quickly stops where he stands as the blade (nearly missing him) passes by him and stops in front of him. "What the heck?!" Zian shouts out. The blade slowly moves back as it disappears back into the wall. Zian stands there shocked by this moment.

He shakes his head as he look at the ground where the blade came from and sees a small line opening as it is a path for the blade. He looks forward and sees the same of it along the path. Zian sighs. "Really Tui?! Do you want to kill me?!" He shouts out. He shakes his head. "Unbelievable." He mumbles as he slowly moves forward. Slowly but surely he makes it through the hallway as he stops every time the blades come out. "This is really tedious but at least I'm making progress." He says shimming shamming to the end. As he finally gets to the other side as he sighs as he looks back. "Finally." He says relieved as he moves on.

As he comes to another hallway he casually walks through it. Then without warning spears come out of the wall from the other side of the room as they fly towards him. He quickly reacts as he shifts his body against the wall as he presses his back against it as the spears whoosh past him and strikes the wall from where he came from. As this is over Zian pushes himself away from the wall as he looks in the direction the spears came from and he shakes his head. "You know. I am really getting sick and tired of all this." He says as he ventures on.

After some time of walking he makes a left at the end of a hall as he moves slowly. He doesn't see where he is going until. "Aaaah!" Zian screams in surprise as he stands close to a ledge as he almost loses balance. He moves his body backwards as he moves back and pants. "That was close." He says.

He peers over the edge. All he can see however is nothing but pitch blackness. He decides to lift his torch in the air in front of him as it is over the edge. He lets go of it. Zian listens to it as it falls down and down and down and down. After 15 seconds of the torch falling Zian finally a low thud indicating that the torch has touch the ground. His eyes grow wide as he whistles in surprise. "That's a deep pit." He says as he looks ahead. He sees that there is another ledge on the other side of the room as he wonders how he is going to get across.

He looks around to see if there is anything he can use as a bridge to cross but sadly nothing of such is available. Zian looks back at the ledge on the other side; he takes a deep breath as he moves a little back. He positions himself to make a run. "Here goes nothing." He says. He pushes himself forward swiftly as he runs. As he comes to the edge of the platform he jumps of the platform and in the air as he moves to the other platform.

As the feeling of confidents fills his body in knowing he would make it he forgets to notices something. "Uh oh." He says. Gravity takes a hold on him as he starts to go down. "No no no no no no!" He shouts. As he falls he lucky grabs hold on the edge of the platform.

Hanging there he looks down as he wipes his forehead and sighs with relief. He pulls himself up as he get on and is on it as he lays on it. He gets up dusting himself off. "That was a close one." He says. As he finishes he realizes something as his eyes widen before groaning and face palming. "I am so stupid. I could've just used my earth bending to make a bridge. Uugh, stupid stupid stupid!" Zian says repeatedly as he smacks his forehead. He shakes his head slowly and looks forward. "Well I can't think about that now. I have to get to the end of this place." He says as he presses on.

After some time he grabs another torch from the walls as he lights the way. He comes to a dark place as there seems to be no light of any kind in this section of the temple as Zian's torch only lights a small radius around him. Zian looks in front of him with blunt look. "Looks like someone was too lazy to light this place up." He says as he sighs. He suddenly notices something that is shined on by the light of his torch. In front of him he sees a big urn of some sort. Slowly and cautiously Zian approaches it as he is weary about this feeling that it might be another one of those booby-traps. When he comes closer to the big urn he begins to inspect it.

Upon closely seeing it he notices something unusual. He sees that the urn is filled with oil. This confuses Zian as he rubs his chin. "Now why would this urn contain oil?" He asks puzzlingly. He looks to the urn and then to his torch as he shrugs. "Well I guess I have to try this." He says. He starts to move his torch closer to the oil. As the flames of his torch are almost close to the urn the oil lights in flames as it lights the area around it greatly.

Zian looks around him and is a bit disappointed. "Still really can't see anything though." He says. Suddenly torches on the walls start to light up as the whole place becomes brighter and brighter making it easier to see the place. What Zian sees in the room amazes him. He sees giant statues of wolf like creatures as they are made and formed in marble materials. He sees ancient cravings of people and animals as he moves forward taking in all of this.

He walks further in this giant room until he sees a high flight of stairs. He looks at it in surprise as he thinks. "That seems a little weird." He says in his mind as he starts walking up the steps. As he walks up he hears the voice of Tui who is walking next to him. "So, it seems like you'll finally get to know the whole story." He says as he smiles. Zian looks to him with a confused look. "What do you mean?" He asks him. Tui just smiles. "Just to warn you, be ready for a rough fight." He says before vanishing.

Zian is left unsure of what he meant by that as he shakes his head and continues on. He thinks of what he will be facing. A giant monster? A skilled fighter? All of this flows through his mind as he keeps wondering the possibilities. "I will know the truth and I will find out why all of this has happened to me.

"I will find out…who I am."

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And the chapter is done. I now it's shorter than most and I didn't originally planned on it being a two parter but I didn't want you guys to think I was giving up on this and I wanted to give you guys at least something for the wait. Please remain patient the next part will take a while to come but it will come.

But as always thank you all so much for reading I really as always truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much hope to see you all in the next chapter. Bye.


End file.
